


Call You Home

by Airuna



Series: Call You Home [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Alec - Freeform, Alec Lightwood Deserves Nice Things, Alec Lightwood-centric, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And Of Course - Freeform, Bad Parent Maryse Lightwood, But also, CEO!Magnus, Conflict Resolution, Cop!Jace, Family Feels, Family of Choice, First Kiss, First Meetings, Harry Potter References, Hot Chocolate, Hustling at Pool, Judge!Maryse, Lawyer!Alec, Love, M/M, Madzie - Freeform, Madzie Adopts Malec, Madzie Deserves Nice Things, Madzie is a Lightwood-Bane, Magnus - Freeform, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, Pathologist!Isabelle, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Protective Alec Lightwood, Redeemed Maryse Lightwood, and, are nice things the others deserve, because the show supplies us with more than enough angst, because this is a malec fic after all, just domestic fluff okay?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-29
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-01-07 00:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 62,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12221949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airuna/pseuds/Airuna
Summary: Alec Lightwood was pretty content with his life, he had a successful job leading a law firm with one of his best friends, a great relationship with his siblings and a perfectly acceptable apartment. He really wasn’t looking for anything more but when he finds a little girl waiting all alone in a coffee shop his life will change irremediably and maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all.Or,The one in which Alec makes up with his mother, gets a boyfriend and adopts a little girl. Just not necessarily in that order.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I know that in canon Malec is probably not going to adopt Madzie, and I am fine with that since she seems very happy with Catarina, but that's why AUs exist, right? This fic was suposed to be part of the Malec Big Bang organized by the mlmshadowhunters blog in tumblr and I just wanted to take a moment to thank them for all the work they put into this project, I really appreciatte it. Also thanks to that, this work is a collaboration with nearly demons who's made a gorgeous video you should go check out [(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxY3YpVhMm4&feature=youtu.be)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxY3YpVhMm4&feature=youtu.be). Finally, this fic has been beta'd by alecisgay who had to suffer through all my spelling errors so a enormous thanks to them too. 

Alec Lightwood liked his routine. He knew that a lot of people, his sibling included, couldn't understand how he could go through his daily return of home, work, take a break to eat, and home, excluding some Sundays when Lydia forced him to take a break as a form of repayment for forcing her do the same thing every other Saturday, but it worked for him. Regardless of what Jace said being one of the two main partners in a rather new, but already quite successful, Law firm was not a monotonous job; it was definitely challenging some days. And really, it wasn't like he didn't do anything but work. He trained with his siblings at least four times a week, usually martial arts and boxing, though Izzy had managed to convince them to try Zumba. It had received mixed reactions between the Lightwood siblings: Izzy and Jace had loved it, but Alec had most certainly not. Regardless, he was happy with his life even if it didn't offer too much variety.

That's why he was probably the only one in the coffee shop that didn’t look like a zombie. He rolled his eyes, yes, it was 7 a.m. on a Monday but really, did no one else but him like their job? He checked his email again not surprised to see that he hadn't received any new mail in the five minutes that had passed while waiting in the queue and sighed, he had promised Izzy that he would at least take the time to sit and have breakfast every day (and yes, coffee did count as breakfast) instead of eating on the way to the office but it was frankly quite boring. He looked around, trying to entertain himself with people-watching (or judging, really, but it wasn't like anyone could read his mind) when he realized that there was someone there that didn't belong. A little dark-skinned girl stood at the door, clearly not wanting to get in line for coffee and looking around with big, scared eyes. Alec imitated her, certain that he would find someone looking for her but everyone seemed too busy glaring at their cups to even notice there was a child in the establishment.

Alec approached her, slowly and making sure she knew what he was doing so as to not startle her. The girl looked even more frightened when he kneeled in front of her but made no move to leave, Alec took that as a win. "Hi there," he smiled. "Are you lost?" he asked. The girl did not answer. "Did you get separated from your parents?" he tried again but was met with the same response. "Fair enough," Alec nodded. "You must have heard at least a thousand times that you should not speak with strangers. Really, you're a very smart girl for remembering it," he praised her and that did get a reaction out of her even if it was just a tiny, shy smile. "I'm Alec," he introduced himself answering her smile with one of his own. "I've got three siblings, my favorite color is green, dark green not neon green, and I really love your pigtails and your ribbons." The girl raised a hand to touch them, her smile growing a bit. "Now that I'm not a complete stranger, will you tell me your name, please?" 

The girl was silent for a whole minute but Alec waited patiently for her to give him an answer, even if it was only a shake of her head, and was pleasantly surprised when she spoke. "Madzie," was all she said, her voice a bit hoarse like she wasn't used to talking that much at all. Alec almost frowned stopping himself just in time and smiling to Madzie instead.

"That's a pretty cool name," he commented. "Way better than mine." It might’ve been silly but every time he got the little girl to smile, he felt as proud as he had the first time he had won a case. "Are your parents around?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Nana said to wait here," Madzie answered a bit unsure. 

"And do you know when that was?" Alec asked softly trying to not convey his fury against that ‘Nana’ who thought that leaving a girl that couldn't be older than five alone in a coffee shop was in any way acceptable.

Madzie shook her head but then tilted it to one side, thinking, so Alec smiled at her and kept silent until she answered. "It was still dark," she offered pointing outside and Alec's blood boiled. That meant this sweet little girl had been waiting alone for over an hour. And really there was only one thing he could do.

"Madzie, would you mind going with me to meet my brother? He doesn't work very far from here," he asked the girl as gently as he could, holding out his hand for her to take.

"Nana said to wait here," she repeated and Alec could see her closing off.

"I know," he reassured her. "But that was really long ago. She doesn't usually leave you alone for that long right?" he asked, the girl considered this for a few seconds before shaking her head. "So, something may have happened to her or she may have gotten lost," Alec told her and the girl's eyes widened with worry. "My brother's work is to help people, you see, he may be able to find Nana for you if you come with me, will you?" After a few seconds of consideration Madzie nodded and took a step towards Alec taking his hand and causing the man to smile brightly at her. He was already making his way towards the door when he realized something. "Wait, have you had breakfast yet?" and he wasn't exactly surprised when he was answered with a shake of the girl's head. "I'll buy you a cookie."

He headed towards the barista who seemed to be the only awake person in the room besides Alec and as such had seen the whole interaction. "Am I bearing witness of a kidnapping?" he asked warily when Alec ordered the cookie. "Because that's not cool man," he added sending Alec a pointed glare.

"My brother is a cop," Alec explained not quite managing to reassure the man. "But if it's going to make you relax..." he looked at the tag the man was wearing on his uniform. “Simon, I'll tell you that my name is Alec Lightwood and let you take a photo of me," he offered. 

Simon's eyes widened. "You're Jace's brother?" he asked loud enough that the nearest clients send him pointed glares. "I'm Clary's best friend!" he explained just as loudly.

"A pleasure," Alec said as dryly as possible. "So now that you know who I am maybe you could give me that cookie?" he asked as slowly as he could, sending an unimpressed glare at him. His face transformed into a soft smile when he turned towards Madzie. "Is chocolate okay?" The energy Madzie put into nodding told Alec that chocolate was more than okay.

"Clary was right, you  _ are _ scary," Simon murmured but he gave Alec a couple of cookies. "On the house, I'm way too weak to charge a girl as cute as her," he said winking at the little one. Madzie smiled shyly at him but plastered herself to Alec's leg and tightened the grip on his hand. Simon must have noticed her discomfort because he didn't address her again while Alec led her out of the coffee shop and onto the street.   

Once they were outside Alec looked around, trying to see if he could find Madzie's Nana but none of the women around them looked twice at the girl nor did they look frantic enough to have lost a child. He glanced down at Madzie and realized that she must have been looking for her Nana too because her smile had disappeared and her shoulders slumped with disappointment. And that simply wouldn't do.

"Come on Madzie. Jace usually keeps snacks in his desk and I know for a fact that he won't be able to say no if we ask him to give them to you." Madzie smiled and looked down to her hand, which was holding the two cookies she had just been given. She let go of Alec hand in order to offer one to him. "Oh, no Madzie, those are yours," Alec protested not taking the cookie. Madzie shook her head and refused to lower her arm. She looked adorable raising the cookie as high as she could, which was below Alec's waist, and trying to stare Alec into accepting it so he just smiled. "Are you sure?" Madzie nodded looking quite pleased with herself when he accepted it and took a bite of her own cookie before grabbing Alec's free hand once again.

They made the five minutes trip to the police station in companionable silence. Once they arrived Madzie stopped gripping Alec’s hand harder. She was looking the building with fear as it rose imposing in front of them. Alec kneeled by her side. “It looks scary, doesn’t it?” he asked, voice soft. “With all these people coming and going and walking so fast.” Madzie nodded, closing the bit of distance between them. “But you are a brave girl; it must have been so scary to wait alone in that coffee shop for Nana and you did it anyway. If you could do that you can go inside, I know you can, and I promise I won’t let go of your hand. Okay?” Madzie considered it for a minute before nodding and taking the first resolute step towards the building.   

Alec guided her through the halls and into a room full of desks stopping before a tall, black man who smiled at them with kindness. “Luke, hi,” Alec said. “Have you seen Jace? I’m in a bit of a situation.”

“I can see that,” Luke told him staring straight at Madzie who looked down and hid behind Alec’s leg. Luke sent Alec a questioning glance taking a step towards them but stopped when Alec shook his head imperceptible squeezing Madzie’s hand to comfort her. “He’s interrogating a suspect but it should take too long. You can wait at his desk.”

Alec thanked Luke before taking Madzie towards the tidiest table in the precinct and helped her sit on the chair. “Now let’s see if we can find where Jace keeps his snacks,” he said winking at Madzie before opening the first drawer. “M&Ms,” Alec announced victorious. “Not bad, mhm?” he asked Madzie. The girl nodded but she seemed more interested in a photo that Jace kept by the sweets. “Oh, yeah, that’s me.” Alec pointed at the picture. “And that’s my sister, Izzy. The one in the middle with his arms around us both is Jace, my brother,” he explained, his voice betraying his fondness. “I can’t believe he keeps this photo in his workplace.”

“You’ve got a total of five photos on your desk, all of which feature either me, Izzy or Max so you don’t have a leg to stand on.” Jace was walking towards them, smiling broadly.

“That was fast,” Alec commented. “Luke said you were interrogating a suspect.”

Jace nodded. “Yeah, he took over, said it seemed urgent,” he said, pointing Madzie with his head. “Is that lovely lady the reason I've been receiving an alarming number of texts from Clary’s nerdy friend asking whether or not you are a kidnapper?” 

Alec just rolled his eyes. “This is Madzie,” he introduced the girl who seemed as scared as she had been in the coffee shop. “Do you want to tell Jace about your Nana?” Alec prompted her but the girl just shook her head, reaching to take Alec’s hand again. “Do you want me to tell him?” at this Madzie nodded, so Alec launched into his tale about finding the girl and bringing her to Jace.

When he was done Jace was sporting an unusual serious expression. “Okay, I’m going to call child protective services and then I’ll start looking for your Nana, I promise I’ll find her,” Jace told Madzie.

“Wait, child services?” Alec asked dumbly, tightening his grip on the girl’s hand. He realized his mistake immediately when he saw Madzie tensing again.

“Someone has to look after Madzie until we find Nana,” Jace explained, and seeing the look of pure terror of the girl's face he added, “but don’t worry, they are all really nice, I swear.” 

Alec frowned, unsettled. He knew Jace was right, of course, but Madzie was looking at him with an unreadable face and he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was letting her down. And Alec hated letting people down. He opened his mouth to say something, he didn't even know what, but was interrupted by his phone ringing. With his right hand being held hostage by a little girl he unlocked the phone with difficulties, answering without looking at the screen. “Lightwood,” he said.

“Oh, so you’re alive,” Lydia sounded equal parts relieved and surprised.

“Yes?” he answered, a bit distracted by Jace signaling that he was going to make a call.

“You are ten minutes late on a Monday. I just assumed you were dead,” Lydia told him and Alec could practically hear her shrugging her shoulders. 

“About that, I probably won’t be able to make it until lunch at the very least.” Alec looked down at Madzie, who was carefully listening to his conversation. She smiled at him and Alec returned it. Yeah, he was staying until the CPS came; he owed Madzie that much. “I may not be able to come at all today.”

“Are your siblings okay?” and Lydia actually sounded freaked out, Alec pointedly didn’t think about what that said about him. “Is someone at the hospital?”

“Everyone is fine,” Alec reassured her. “I just found a girl.”

There was a minute of silence from Lydia’s end of the line. “A phrase your parents dream of hearing,” she pointed out dryly.

Alec couldn’t help but snort. “Oh yeah, and she is the prettiest five year old I’ve ever met.” He felt Madzie tugging his hand and when he looked at her, she showed him proudly four fingers. “Sorry, four years old, she is just so smart and big she tricked me,” he corrected winking at Madzie. “We are waiting for Jace to find her Nana.”

“So you are actually taking a day off? On your own? I’m so proud,” Lydia teased. “Really, as soon as you hang up I’ll call Izzy to gush about your progress.”

“Hilarious,” Alec deadpanned. “About the meeting with the Roundel’s...”

“I’ve got it covered and I will send you the notes of it tonight,” Lydia promised. “As well as a report on any progress made in any of your cases today.”

“You are an angel,” Alec said. “I'll talk to you later?” he asked looking at Madzie as she fidgeted on her seat.

“Sure,” Lydia said and then she hung up.

Alec was pocketing his phone when he heard Madzie speak. “You are really nice,” she said, looking expectantly at him.

He smiled, that wasn't something people usually said about him. “Thank you, Madzie.” And it seemed to be the wrong thing to say because Madzie’s face fell. “You are very nice too,” he added trying to get her to smile again. Madzie shook her head.

“Jace said I have to stay with someone nice until he finds Nana,” she tried again, looking at Alec shyly. His mouth dropped open. It was a terrible idea. He had a job that didn’t allow him a lot of free time and Madzie was clearly traumatized, she needed someone that could give her all the time and attention on the world, someone who knew what she had been through and how to help her. She needed someone far better than Alec but… well, she  _ wanted _ Alec. And Alec wanted to make sure she was well cared for. That had to count for something, right? He was saved from answering by the arrival of Jace with a stunning black woman in tow.

“Hi, Madzie,” Jace greeted the young girl. “This is Maia, she’ll find you a home to stay until Nana comes back.” 

Maia smiled to the girl who scooted over her seat to get closer to Alec. “Jace told me you are a little shy.” She didn’t seem to mind. “I know you are scared but you don’t have to be, most foster parents are amazing people who’d love to look after you for a while.”

“How does one become a foster father?” Alec blurted out and three pairs of eyes suddenly focused on him. Maia’s were unamused, Jace’s were incredulous and little Madzie’s were hopeful. It was the latter that gave Alec the courage to repeat, “If I wanted to take care of Madzie, what should I do?”

Maia opened her mouth, her frown indicating bad news but Jace spoke first, "Maybe we could ask Madzie some questions about her Nana before we decide where she'll live." Maia nodded and Alec threw Jace a grateful look, knowing he was getting him a chance to prove himself to Maia. "Do you know what your Nana's name is?" Jace asked.

Madzie looked at Alec who nodded encouragingly and opened her mouth. She looked at Jace and Maia and closed it again tugging Alec’s hand to get him closer to her. Alec let himself be pulled and kneeled beside Madzie's chair. "Jace is good at his job but he needs you to be a brave little girl and answer those questions in order to find Nana," he told her in the softest, most honest voice he could manage. Madzie ducked her head looking intently at Alec's hand in hers. "Would it help if I asked the questions? You can pretend they are not here and talk only to me," Alec offered causing Madzie to nod timidly. He turned towards Jace and Maia for the go-ahead and they both nodded at him. "Do you know what your Nana's name is? What other people call her?" 

"Iris," Madzie muttered, her gaze had fallen back into their joined hands. "Or doctor Rouse." 

Jace stiffened and paled. "We need to know where she last saw her Nana, where they lived and... whether or not her Nana gave her pills or injections and if she lived with other women that were her patients," he told Alec confirming his suspicions that Iris Rouse was bad news.

"What can you tell me of all that Madzie?" Alec asked the girl.

"Nana asked me to wait in the coffee shop when it was still dark," Madzie told Alec again. "And our house was really big with Nana's adult things in the first floor, the second floor for the sad ladies and my room on the third. But I could only be in the third floor because I'm still only a little girl." 

"Is that where you kept your toys?" Alec asked Madzie, trying to relax her, "on the third floor?" Madzie nodded smiling. "And did Nana give you medicines to eat? Or used needles on you?" Alec asked cautiously.

"No, I was not sick like the sad ladies," Madzie told Alec and Jace relaxed his posture, relieved. 

"Do you know how to count Madzie?" Alec asked curiously and the girl nodded proudly.  "Of course you do. You really are brilliant." He smiled at her. "Can you tell me how many sad ladies lived with you?"

Madzie used her fingers to do the calculations and proudly showed three to Alec. "Their babies too," she added.

"Is there anything else?" Alec asked Jace who, much to Madzie's relief shook his head. "She's done amazingly, hasn't she?" and Jace and Maia rushed to compliment the girl making her smile shyly.

It was time to discuss Madzie's future living arrangement and Alec didn't want to do it in front of the girl, so he signaled the other two to go to the coffee machine on the other side of the room. "Madzie, I need to go have an adult conversation with Jace and Maia, can you be a good girl and wait here?" he asked, the girl tightened the grip on his hand and Alec realized that her Nana must have told her something similar not four hours ago. "I'll be right there, you'll be able to see me at all times," he pointed out. "And you can make a pretty drawing while you wait, Jace always have crayons around because his girlfriend loves to draw and I'm sure he won't mind letting them to you," he told Madzie. Jace opened a drawer to get them and handed them silently to Madzie with some paper and a smile.  He also left the bag of M&Ms Alec had found in front of her, giving her a wink.

Once they were out of Madzie’s hearing range, Alec turned towards Jace. “Who is Iris Rouse?” 

“A mad, dangerous woman. She works with women with AIDS, forcing them to have babies so she can experiment with new drugs on them, she is trying to find a cure but most of the babies die and so do the women. We also suspect she has a prostitution ring that offers certain type of men the possibility of unprotected sex to get the women she has sick and makes money out of it. She is a monster,” Jace explained disgust and anger clear on his face. “We’ve been investigating her for years but it wasn’t until last week that we managed to find enough conclusive proof, she of course disappeared the minute we got a warrant.”

“You think Madzie may be one of those babies?” Alec asked and started to panic. 

“No, from what Madzie said she hasn’t been experimented on and Iris didn’t abandon her at the house like she did with all the others. My guess is that Madzie is actually family to her, not a guinea pig,” Jace reassured him.

“Anyway, it’s very clear the girl is traumatized,” Maia cut in crossing her arms defiantly and Alec jumped, for a moment he had forgotten her presence. “And you don’t seem the type to have any experience with kids, traumatized or otherwise. I’m sorry but she’ll be better off with a family that knows what she needs.”

“I disagree,” Jace told her, crossing his arms too and frowning in what Alec knew to be his 'you may be stubborn but not as stubborn as I am' way.

“Of course you do, he is your brother,” Maia rolled her eyes at Jace. “But I won’t jeopardize that girl’s future just because he has decided he wants to play family.”

“That’s not it,” Alec exclaimed affronted. “I care about her, and I know that I may not be the most experienced person around but I have the means to provide for her and I can offer her my undivided attention which she won’t be able to get from a big family.” Maia pursed her lips considering this. “She asked me to take care of her so she clearly trusts me. I don’t want to break that trust so soon after Iris.”

“You saw she only speaks to Alec, she is clearly comfortable around him,” Jace pushed and Alec felt extremely grateful to have him at his side.

“Doesn’t change the fact that Alec doesn’t know what a traumatized kid needs.”

“But he does,” Jace sighed and Alec had an ink he knew where this was going. “He’s taken care of one before and helped him adjust to a normal life and that kid turned out fine,” he said smiling shyly at Alec who shook his head with an answering smile.

“Really? Which kid?” Maia asked unimpressed, clearly not believing a word Jace was saying.

“Me,” Jace told her and Maia frowned, intrigued. “You helped with the Morgenstern case so I suppose someone told you he had been my guardian until I was ten?” Maia nodded. “Did they tell you he was abusive, both physically and emotionally? That he told me that to love is to destroy and then faked his own gruesome death in front of me to drive that point home?”

“Jace…” Alec tried to interrupt, not wanting his brother to recall all that but Jace stopped him with a gesture, his attention still on Maia.

“No, I didn’t know that part,” Maia admitted and there was something close to pity in her tone that made Jace flinch a little. 

“Well, he did and afterwards I was placed in the Lightwood’s care and while I will always be grateful to Maryse and Robert for giving me a place to live and feeding me and all that, it was Alec, and to a lesser extent our sister Isabelle, who took care of me and helped me through it.”

“I didn’t do that much,” Alec protested a slight blush on his cheeks.

“You realized that people raising their voices made me flinch so you ensured no one did it around me. You took the blame for things I’d done because you knew I was terrified of your parents sending me away. On my first night at yours you found me shivering on my bed because of a nightmare so you climbed in there with me and made me feel safe. You allowed me to climb into your bed every time I had a nightmare after that day and convinced me I wasn't weak for doing so because Izzy did it too and she is... well, she is Izzy. You broke some guy’s nose because they called me a family-less freak and told everyone I was your brother and that if someone messed with me they'd answer to you. You made me feel like I had a family for the first time in my life,” Jace listed completely serious not breaking eye contact with Alec.

“He broke a guy’s nose for insulting you?” Maia asked, eyebrows high.

“I was twelve!” Alec defensed himself. “I know better now.”

“Don’t worry, Alec, she approves.” Jace told him and Maia nodded reluctantly. “I’m just saying that if you want Madzie to be safe and cared for, Alec is your best shot.” And surprisingly Maia nodded, seeming to trust Jace judgment. “And you won’t know if Madzie has a family until we find Rouse and ask her and that could take weeks.”

“You are right. I suppose she could stay with him till then.” Maia sighed and Alec beamed at his brother who clasped a hand on his shoulder. “This is very irregular, usually you'd have to spend a period of 10-12 weeks with surprise visits to your apartment to make sure everything is safe but I suppose this does count as an exceptional circumstance. I’m going to need all your information, I’ll visit your flat the minute I’m out of here and send you a list of everything you need to change so it’s child friendly. I also need someone to do a background check on you right now. Not you,” she said pointing at Jace who was already opening his mouth to volunteer. “Maybe Luke has some time? Go ask him,” she ordered Jace who complied without a protest much to the astonishment of his brother. He looked at Maia wide-eyed, maybe she could teach him how to do that? “Take a seat.” Maia pointed at a chair. “You have questions to answer.”

“Can we do it over there?” Alec pointed towards Madzie that still looked relentless, checking every minute that Alec hadn’t disappeared.

“Yes.” Maia sighed again and followed Alec to the table where Madzie received them with a shy smile, mostly directed towards him, which made Alec feel lighter. He took a seat by her side, looking at her with fondness.

“Hi, how’s that drawing going? Can I see it?” he asked smiling at the girl. Madzie shook her head. “Okay, then,” Alec accepted easily. “You can keep drawing, Maia is going to ask me some questions.” 

The woman took a seat in front of him and made him write down his contact information before starting. He took the red crayon that Madzie had gracefully lent him and filled it as fast as he could, handing it over to Maia who scanned the page with her eyes before asking “I see you live in a flat in Brooklyn, do you have enough space for two people? And who has access to your apartment?”

“Yes, I do. I have a guestroom I could easily transform into a kid’s bedroom. And only my siblings, Jace, Max and Isabelle Lightwood, but Max is studying abroad so he won’t be dropping by till Christmas, and my business partner, Lydia Brandwell,” he explained unable to keep the fondness out of his voice.

“Do you have a job that allows you the time and means to take care of a child?” Maia asked and Madzie tensed, realizing what that question meant and sending Alec a hopeful look. Not for the first time Alec marveled at how quick the girl was.

He smiled at her. “I am a senior partner, co-owner and cofounder of the Brandwell & Lightwood Law Firm, it's doing quite well so money won't be an issue. And I haven’t taken a vacation since we started the firm three years ago so I can take several weeks off to take care of Madzie until Jace finds Rouse.”  

“Won’t your associate mind?” Maia asked raising an eyebrow.

“Nah, she’s been nagging me about taking a vacation for months if not years.” Alec smiled fondly. “And I will still help with consultations and reviews, things I can do from home. Maybe I can go back to work half-time in a couple of weeks if Madzie feels comfortable with going to daycare.” He saw Madzie tense clearly not on board with that idea. “But only when you are ready,” he reassured her. “And I promise not to let my siblings come home until you want them to, okay? I know strangers can be scary.”

“You’ve marked your civil status as single but I need to know if you have a girlfriend so we can make a background check,” Maia continued and Alec frowned.

“I’m single,” he started and then sighed, aware that his next words could cost him Madzie just like they had cost him his parents. “And if I were in a relationship it wouldn’t be with a woman.”

“Oh, sorry I assumed.” Maia didn’t even bat an eye. “Well, you can expect several surprise visits during the following weeks, but if nothing turns out on your background check you are officially Madzie’s guardian till Iris Rouse is found.”

Alec smiled at her. “Thanks.”

Maia rolled her eyes. “Just give me the keys to your place so I can go take a look, you should wait here until Luke gives you the green light and then take Madzie to be tested, I agree with Jace that she’s probably clean but better safe than sorry.” Alec hesitated. “If you want you can call a family member or friend to come with me, I wouldn’t want a stranger alone in my flat either.”

“Can you take Jace? And tell him to bring me back the keys to Izzy’s lab?” Alec asked aware that Jace wouldn't mind doing this for him. Maia made an inquisitive sound. “My sister is a pathologist, I know a pediatrician would be better but I think Madzie will be more comfortable with her than in a hospital full of people,” he explained, Madzie nodded at him and fixed his big brown eyes on Maia pleadingly.

Apparently Maia wasn’t immune to her puppy eyes either since she nodded at her. “I’m going to go find the idiot then.” She sighed in frustration but Alec was starting to get the feeling that Maia and Jace were far better friends than they wanted to let on. 

Before leaving she smiled and waved Madzie goodbye. The girl didn't wave back, instead she waited until Maia was far away enough not to be able to hear them and tugged at Alec’s sleeves. “She’s scary,” she whispered a bit in awe. 

“Yeah,” Alec agreed. “But a nice kind of scary, right?” Madzie pondered it for a second before nodding. They waited for Luke in silence while Madzie finished her drawing and Alec replied to his emails and tried to reassign all his ongoing work for the next weeks to interns, maybe Raj could handle the difficult ones? He did look like he would enjoy the challenge...

About an hour later the captain walked towards them and crossed his arms in mock admonishment staring down at Alec, who sat straighter. There was something about Luke that inspired respect and made Alec terrified of disappointing him, even when he knew he was just joking. “Did you actually break into a pet store drunk to ‘free’ the kittens?”

“It was Jace’s fault?” Alec tried looking extremely sheepish. Madzie looked at him with surprise, unused to see him so unsure, so he reassured her with a smile.

Luke shook his head in faux disappointment. “See usually I’d believe you, god knows that must be true about 90% of the time. But I know for a fact that Jace was at the Academy by then, not even in the same city.”

“Fine, Lyds and I decided to not be boring for once and celebrate the end of finals by getting wasted. And apparently I have very strong opinions about cats when I’m drunk,” Alec admitted with a wince, that had been some hangover. “But don’t worry, after waking up in jail we both decided that boring suited us just fine.” Then something horrible occurred to him. “That’s not going to cost me this guardianship, is it? You know me Luke, you know that was a onetime kind of accident. You can’t take Madzie away for that!”

“Calm down, kiddo,” Luke said cutting straight through Alec’s freak out. “I’m not going to take the girl away for a single mistake you made a decade ago.”

Alec relaxed and turned towards Madzie realizing he must have scared her. He cursed himself when he saw her looking between him and Luke with big, frightened eyes, her little hand reaching out to take Alec’s. He tightened the grip to give her courage and it worked better than he had expected because Madzie pressed her lips in determination and fixed her gaze at some point above Luke’s shoulder. “You promise?” her voice was scared and so low it barely reached Luke but it filled Alec with pride either way; it was the first time Madzie had chosen to talk with someone who wasn’t him.

And Madzie had made a flawless choice on Luke because he only smiled at her not making a big deal out of it and leveled her with the most serious and reassuring look he could muster. “I promise,” he said simply but with a warm and certainty that comforted even Alec. “Now, I have to go back to work but call me if you need anything, and I mean anything.” Alec smiled frankly at him, regardless of his own opinions on Clary, no one could ever fault Luke’s parenting. Those words were a safety net and while Alec wasn’t used to having those he appreciated it, especially for Madzie’s sake.

Once Luke had said his goodbyes Alec got out of his chair and kneeled in front of the girl. “Madzie, I know the last thing you want to do right now is meet another person but I need to know if you are sick so I can take care of you properly. That’s why I need to take you to my sister and have you tested. Do you understand?” he asked looking Madzie in the eyes. Madzie bit her lip but nodded resolutely, folding her drawing and giving it to him for safekeeping. 

Alec didn’t really fancy taking Madzie to the morgue, so he texted Izzy to tell her to meet them at the criminal lab instead. It wasn’t her domain but she was on friendly enough terms with the head of their CSI division, a guy named Meliorn, that she could easily get access to it even when she wasn’t using the equipment stashed in there. Luckily the lab was in the same building they were at so it didn’t take them long to get there. Alec paused in front of the door. “You ready?” he asked Madzie who just tightened the hold on his hand. “Don’t worry, my sister is very nice,” he promised. “Nicer than Jace and he was okay, wasn’t he?” Madzie nodded without pondering and Alec smiled. “And I won’t leave your side, I promise.” And that more than anything else seemed to convince the girl.

“I can’t believe you are so afraid of dead bodies that you made me come here instead of visiting me at the morgue,” Izzy teased when he opened the door only to stop when she saw Alec was not alone. “Who is this?” she asked taking a step towards them.

Madzie hid behind Alec’s leg and Alec sent a look to his sister, signaling her not to come any closer. “This is Madzie,” he answered. “She’ll be staying with me for a while.” His sister’s eyebrows rose high and Alec knew she had a million questions so he kept talking before she could start asking them. “Her nana, Iris Rouse, is missing and I need to know if she is healthy,” he continued, praying his sister would recognize the name and understand the situation without him having to explain it in front of Madzie. The fury in Isabelle’s eyes told him she did.

“Of course,” Izzy agreed calmly. “Let me get ready”

And just like that she slipped into professional mode, picking out all the things she needed for the test. Alec was looking at her with pride when he realized that Madzie was trying to get his attention by pulling at his pant. He sat her on a high table and leaned close so he could understand her whispers. “I don’t like needles,” she confessed, her voice scared.

Alec frowned, fighting the instinct to promise Madzie she didn't have to subject herself to one if she didn't want to, utterly hating he couldn’t protect her from this. “I don’t like them either, I don’t think anyone actually does,” he whispered back making sure his tone came out sympathetic instead of condescending. “But sometimes you have to be brave and do things you don’t wanna do so nothing bad happens. I need to know if you need medicines Madz, otherwise you could get really sick,” he explained as softly a he could.

“Is it going to hurt?” Madzie’s voice sounded as scared as before but far more resigned and Alec wasn't sure how he felt about that.

“Only a little,” Alec promised firmly. “Izzy is very, very smart so she’ll do it as painless and fast as possible. You just make sure not to look at it okay? Don't take your eyes away from me.” Madzie nodded, her eyes shining with a trust Alec didn’t know if he deserved.

“And I’ll give you a lollipop if you are a brave little girl,” Izzy said approaching them, needle already in her hand.

“No,” Alec protested, getting a pout from both girls. “I’m sorry but she’s had a cookie and some M&Ms already, no more sweets until after lunch at least.” While bribing Madzie with food had proved handy, being her guardian meant he had a responsibility to keep her healthy and that included not giving her too much junk food. Even if it meant getting the kicked puppy look Madzie was throwing him. He sighed, it was the first day after all... “but maybe Izzy can give me the lollipop and I’ll let you have it mid-afternoon?” Madzie nodded approvingly.

“Well, that’s settled then. Can I grab your arm, Madzie?” Izzy asked, holding a cotton in her right hand to clean that region. The kid nodded, unconvinced, and fixed her gaze on Alec like he had told her to do.

“So, what’s your favorite animal?” Alec asked, watching his sister preparing his wards’ arm to take the sample. He wasn’t surprised when Madzie didn’t answer. “Mine are cows, aren’t they just great?” Madzie sent him a quizzical look and that wouldn't do. No cow-hater would live under Alec's roof, that girl clearly needed to be educated. “Come on, Madz, they are so cute! And they give us milk which is pretty neat, isn’t it?” When Isabelle started drawing blood Madzie flinched but kept her gaze steadily on him. “Do you know that they only have teeth in the bottom of their mouth? And that they are red-green colorblind? That means they can’t differentiate between the two. Silly, right? I mean they are two totally different colors! But if you ask a cow they may tell you the grass is red.” Madzie giggled and Alec relaxed, seeing that Izzy was already starting to retract the needle. “And once, a cow was accused of starting the Great Chicago Fire and I find that completely unfair because the poor cow was innocent but they framed her because she couldn’t defend herself!” And Alec may have been rambling at this point but Madzie was smiling and Iz had the sample so everything was as it should.

“We get it, Alec, you’ve got a lot of feelings about cows.” His sister sighed longsuffering. “Here," she threw a lollipop Alec's way which he caught just before it hit his head. "Remember it's for you, not him, don't let him eat it," she told Madzie very seriously, she held her gaze until the girl nodded and then smiled before turning towards Alec. "Now leave, I have tests to run. I’ll text you the results in a couple of hours.” She gestured to the door dismissively before turning a bright smile towards the girl. “It was really nice to meet you, Madzie. I hope we’ll see each other again soon.” Madzie nodded offering her a shy smile in return. She let Alec raise her from the seat but then refused to let go once he was placing her on the floor. Alec shrugged, it wasn’t like Madzie weighed that much anyway so he rearranged her to rest on his hip. 

Izzy was already engrossed on her machines and Alec stood there a bit awkwardly, not knowing how to tell his sister that he had to wait there until Jace came back with his keys. Luckily, he didn’t have to because their brother chose that same moment to arrive. “Hi guys, Madzie,” he greeted throwing the keys to Alec. 

Alec let them fall, not wanting to risk trying to catch them and dropping Madzie who seemed quite comfortable sitting on him. He stared at them, then at Jace, then pointedly at the keys again and finally at Jace, raising an unimpressed eyebrow towards him. Jace sighed in exasperation and picked them up handing them to Alec like a normal person. “Thank you, Jace,” Alec said half to annoy him, half because he had to start showing Madzie manners even if she was already better behaved than either of his siblings. “Do you want to see your new home?” Alec asked Madzie who nodded, eager to get away of all these new people. “Okay, guys, I’ll see you later?”

His siblings said their goodbyes and Alec and Madzie left. The minute the door closed after them Isabelle punched Jace arm. “Why didn’t you tell me we have a niece?” she demanded.

“It’s been barely two hours,” Jace protested rubbing the attacked spot. “And she’s not technically Alec’s,” he pointed out cautiously.

Izzy rolled her eyes. “I give it a week before he officially adopts her.”

“It’s not that easy,” Jace sighed a tad worried. “We don’t know if she has any blood relative, if she does Alec may not have a choice on keeping her.” 

“That would kill him.” Izzy bit her lip, concerned. “I mean, he may not have admitted it to himself yet but it’s clear he already sees her as his and it’s only been hours.”

“I know, Izz, believe me I do. But as for now, all I can do is find Iris as quick as possible so if Alec has to give her up it’s sooner rather than latter,” Jace told her. “Because telling Alec not to get too attached…”

“Would be like telling rain not to be wet, I know.” Izzy sighed. “Is it bad that I kind wish her parents are already dead?”

“Think of it as you wishing Alec doesn’t have to lose a daughter, this way you avoid all the moral repercussions,” Jace advised and the two shared a worried smile.

Already outside the precinct Alec was still carrying Madzie when he heard her speak. "Fish," was all she said.

Which was kind of random? Maybe she was hungry? "Fish?" he repeated keeping the perplexity out of his voice.

"Yes," Madzie answered like they were having a normal, two-sided conversation. "They can breathe under water, that's cool. And they are of all the colors and shapes in the world. Cows are only white and black." 

That was not correct but at least now Alec knew what they were talking about. "Cows can also be brown, red or grey." 

"Not yellow or purple. Those are my favorite." Madzie pouted, clearly upset Alec couldn't see the superiority of fishes over cows. "Fishes can."

"That they do, they are pretty amazing, you’re right." Alec said because the girl’s happiness was way more important than winning a silly argument about favorite animals. Even when he was obviously right. "And their gills are really cool." Madzie brightened up visibly. "Have you seen Finding Nemo?" Madzie nodded enthusiastically. "I take it it's one of your favorites?"

"After Moana."

"Uh, I haven't seen Mona," Alec commented causing Madzie’s eyes to widen in pure horror. "Maybe I can buy it and we can watch it together some night?" Madzie nodded smiling but she was still looking at him with something similar to pity. "I like the Aristocats," he offered and Madzie made a confused face. "You haven't seen it?" Madzie shook her head. "Well, I'll get it too, you have to see it, it’s so much fun." Madzie smiled at him, distracted enough by their conversation that she didn't notice they were passing near the coffee shop from that morning. "You know, Izzy and Jace usually come over to my apartment on Saturday nights to watch movies and eat pizza," he explained, Madzie smile dimmed a little. "That’s in five days and I promised they won't come if you don't want to but if you feel ready maybe we could all watch Finding Nemo?" Madzie looked unconvinced. "You can decide on Friday, don't worry." 

After that the conversation died a bit, and they kept walking in silence. Madzie seemed more at ease and Alec really didn’t mind the quiet, it was comfortable. They were already on Alec’s street when he realized something that made him stop. Madzie tugged at his jacket, demanding an explanation. “I don’t have any clothes your size,” Alec blurted out, it was such a small thing but for the first time he was realizing how unprepared he was. He didn’t have clothes for Madzie, or toys, or children’s books, hell even his fridge was half empty since he usually ate at his office. And now he was freaking out in the middle of the street with a frightened four years old in his arms quickly picking up on his distress. Had Maia been right? Maybe Madzie would be happier with someone else. Maybe it had been selfish to even think he could take care of her. Maybe...

“There.” Madzie was pointing towards a shop Alec had never even noticed. A children’s clothes shop. Well, at least one of them was a solver. “But quick, okay?” she pleaded with those big eyes of hers. Alec was starting to realize that those would soon become a problem. 

“Yes, of course, we’ll just buy some pajamas and a couple outfits and we’ll be out in five minutes. We can go shopping properly once you’ve settled,” Alec promised and Madzie smiled at him. True to his word, it took Alec no time to find a blue, fish-themed pajama for the girl as well as a sunny, yellow dress, a purple t-shirt and jeans. “Do you like these?” he asked showing them to Madzie more anxious that he cared to admit. She nodded, going to touch the yellow dress with a tiny smile that made Alec feel extremely smug. “Do you know your sizes?” he asked and was not surprised to receive a blank look in response. “That’s okay, I usually forget mine as well. Do you want to try those on?” She shook her head violently, clearly wanting to leave as soon as possible. “Okay, then I need to go talk to an assistant so she can help me get you the right size. Do you want to come with me or would you rather I put you down and wait here for me?” Madzie considered it for a couple of seconds before tightening her grip on his jacket. “Okay, then.”

He approached the shop assistant who smiled professionally at him. “Good morning, how can I help you?”

“I need these on her size, please.” Alec gave her the clothes he had picked out. 

“Those are really beautiful, aren’t they, sweetheart?” the girl, Maureen her tag said, tried to speak to Madzie who just stared at her in response. 

Seeing she was about to talk to her again, Alec interjected. “I don’t mean to be rude but we are in a bit of a hurry.”

“Of course,” she said redirecting his attention towards Alec. “Which size is she?”

“I don’t know.” 

“You usually go shopping with mommy, don’t you?” cooed Maureen, again addressing Madzie and frowning when she remained completely still.

“She doesn’t like talking to strangers,” Alec said a bit sharper than he had intended making Maureen physically recoil. “And she doesn’t ha…” he cut himself out not wanting to say anything that could hurt Madzie. “I’ve just started fostering her. By myself.” 

“Oh,” the girl actually looked sheepishly and Alec almost felt bad for his tone. Almost. “Sorry, I’ll go get these, and maybe a couple of basics?” Alec nodded gratefully. “Just wait for me at the cashier counter." Five minutes later she was back with the clothes Alec had picked and several other that did look practical, including a black comfortable-looking hoodie that Madzie stared longingly at. “Any interest in one of these?” she asked showing them to Alec.

“Yeah, we’ll take it all.” He said and handed his card almost as anxious as his girl to leave the shop. Madzie smiled and Maureen looked a bit surprise but she folded the clothes and bid them goodbye without addressing Madzie directly again.

“Well, that’s one less thing to worry about.” Alec sighed once they were back in the street. “I really hope that she’s gotten your size right.”

“They are pretty clothes,” Madzie commented shyly.

“Well, of course, I wasn’t going to buy you something ugly, was I?” Alec told her playfully rolling his eyes. Madzie laughed. “I’m sorry I don’t have any toys, I’ll get you some but you’ll have to come with me to the shop to pick them and I assumed you wouldn’t want to do that this morning.” Madzie shook her head making him smile. “That’s okay, god knows it takes me a week of psyching myself up to go shopping,” he confided, pausing before his door. “Here we are,” he told Madzie “We live in this building; it’s quite safe, see?” He pointed at David, the guard. “Dave, this is Madzie, she’ll be living with me for a while,” he introduced the girl. The guard nodded, astonished, but didn’t say anything. Alec got into the elevator with Madzie. “We live in twelfth floor.” Madzie pointed towards the button. “Yeah, that one, do you want to press it?” he asked and the girl answered by doing so, turning a pleased smile towards Alec. “Well done,” he praised and Madzie’s smile grew.

Alec didn’t have a lot of opinions about his own flat. He didn’t spend enough time in it to have them. It was affordable, with a nice bathroom, two rooms, a study and a living room slash kitchen, practical and a bit spartan. He was renting it already furnished and it served its function, namely giving him a place to sleep. Everything was practical and impersonal with the only exception being the big comfortable couch his siblings had forced him to acquire after deciding, without his input, to set up mandatory movie night’s every week at his place. It was a nice apartment but it wasn’t a home.

That was the revelation Alec had when he crossed the threshold, Madzie still in his arms. He sighed, the girl really deserved better. She didn’t seem to mind though, squirming in Alec’s arms until he let her go and running towards the couch the moment her feet touched the ground. “It’s comfy,” she said pleased.

“Yeah?” well, maybe Izzy and Jace had had a point, then. Not that he was going to admit it to them in a hundred years. “Do you want to see your room?” and then winced, remembering how coldly decorated that room was. Madzie was already nodding so he had no choice but to take her there. “I know it’s not too nice but I’ll get you new things,” he promised realizing that besides a bed and a closet, both too big for the girl, the room was basically empty.

“Can I keep the bed? It’s much bigger than mine!” Madzie said and Alec felt a pang of sympathy, realizing that Madzie would probably never sleep on that bed again. 

“Of course,” he promised, looking around the room. He would need to buy so many things, he realized. Maybe Madzie would agree to go shopping that afternoon? But until then… “Do you want to see the study?”

Madzie nodded and Alec took her to his favorite room of the apartment. It was small, with only a desk and his computer in it, but there was a bookcase in every single wall. Madzie gasped. “Are all those books yours?”

Alec smiled a bit sheepishly. “Yeah, and I have some more in my room,” he confessed. “I really like to read.” Madzie nodded, still stunned so Alec grabbed the first Harry Potter. “Do you want me to read to you?”

Madzie nodded shyly and let him guide her towards the couch. They both took off their shoes so they could sit more comfortably in it and Alec started reading. From the first chapter Madzie was entranced, gasping at all the right places while Alec tried to use his best soothing voice. She kept moving closer to him to hear better and by the time Hagrid announced Harry was a wizard she was practically sitting in his lap. Alec smiled and closed the book, deciding that it was time for lunch, but didn’t speak, relaxed in the calm, private atmosphere they had created. 

“I miss Nana,” Madzie confessed out of the blue.

“I know you do, Jace will find her, I promise.”

“But she left me, she doesn’t like me anymore.” Because of course being abandoned in a coffee shop had left her with that impression. Alec really hated Rouse with passion. 

“Maybe she had a reason to.”  _ Like running from the police because she is a fucking monster who doesn’t deserve your concern. _ “All I know is that anyone with a brain would like you. I do, very much.”

“So, you won’t leave?” she asked voice trembling.

“No, not if you don’t want me to,” he promised and very slowly, allowing her time to reject it, he moved his hand to pet her hair. Madzie allowed it leaning toward the touch a bit and Alec realized that she may have needed the physical reassurance that she wasn’t alone. “Can I hug you?” he asked and the girl nodded so he did. She held herself completely still for a couple of seconds before returning the hug, clinging to Alec and starting to sob on his shirt, the emotions of the morning finally catching up with her. Alec held her close, allowing her to let it all out and realizing that for better or for worse he was now Madzie’s guardian and he was going to live up to that name even if it killed him. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alec and Madzie get used to one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 as promised! Thank you all of you for reading, and especially thanks to those that have left comments, kudos or bookmarks, you don't know how happy those made me.

The next few days were the hardest. The tests had come back clean, much to Alec’s relief, and Madzie had agreed to go shopping with him. They spent the afternoon getting everything Maia had requested, including the list of things Luke had advised him to get. Alec soon realized that Madzie was more comfortable in big shops full of people rather than shops where they were the only clients and the assistants came to them, trying to help. She still refused to talk to anyone else but since her breakdown on the couch she seemed more at ease with Alec, speaking in larger sentences when the situation required it. The problem was that, except for their little excursions to the mall, Alec and Madzie spend most of their time in the apartment and, while the new toys helped to keep Madzie entertained, Alec was slowly going insane. Lydia had made sure his cases were assigned to other lawyers and while he still had several dozen emails to answer each day, helping them with some detail or other, he felt lazy and bored for the first time in years, maybe ever. He simply didn't know what to do with all his free time so he mostly just ended reading, he had already finished two books and him and Madzie had made their steady way through half the philosopher’s stone. 

Usually he would have taken advantage of his free time to bond with his siblings but Madzie was still uncomfortable every time he brought up them coming over and he didn’t want to push her, so he communicated with them exclusively via text. He was aware that sooner or later he would have to stop indulging Madzie, it wasn’t healthy for either of them to spend so much time locked in with only each other for company. But she had nightmares every night and looked pained at the mention of other people invading their sanctuary so Alec decided to give her a bit more time. It worked until Wednesday when Jace texted to inform him that they needed to question Madzie about Rouse’s possible contacts. 

The girl had not been pleased when Alec had told her, she had pouted and looked dejected and even stopped talking to him for a couple of hours but Alec had held his ground and by the time Jace was supposed to arrive she had stopped giving him the cold shoulder, clearly realizing that if she had to do this, it was better to have an ally by her side.

When the doorbell rang she tensed but followed Alec to the door. He smiled at her reassuringly and opened it to reveal an extremely tired looking Jace. "Hi, Madzie." Jace smiled hands behind his back without making any move towards her. Madzie stayed firmly behind Alec's leg. "Alec told you I have some more questions for you?" the girl nodded and Jace beamed at her. "But first, I have something else for you," he told her showing her a giant stuffed orca.

"It's bigger than her,” snorted Alec while Jace held it out to Madzie.

Jace tried to glare at him but then Madzie took a hesitant step towards him and his face broke into a delighted smile. "Alec told me you like fish," he explained, Alec raised an eyebrow looking pointedly at the plush mammal. "Then I realized that my favorite fish-shaped animal is not a fish,” he added before Alec could mock him. Madzie looked at the toy, then at Jace and finally at Alec, confused. “Orcas may live in the sea but they are far more like us or monkeys than fishes,” Jace explained happy to have intrigued Madzie. “They can’t breathe underwater,” Jace continued on with a confused look from the girl, “because they don’t have gills, see?” he said pushing more firmly the toy towards her; Madzie took it without hesitation eager to check what he had told her and Jace sent Alec an extremely smug look that made his brother roll his eyes. “Can I take a picture of you, Madzie?” asked Jace holding his phone out. “You just look too adorable.” Madzie nodded, still distracted with the stuffed animal.

“Send that to me,” mouthed Alec in his direction and Jace nodded, his eyes glinting mischievously. “Don’t you have a job to do?” he asked, trying to divert his brother from whatever he was planning.

Jace pouted. “He is such a buzzkill,” he told Madzie, who answered by glaring at him. “Wow, three days in and you’ve already picked up his death glare, I’m impressed.” Madzie smiled pleased and Jace gestured towards the couch. “I’ll show you some pictures and you point at them if you recognize the people in them. Then I’ll ask some questions about them. I know you don’t like to talk but it’s really important that you are honest about it, okay? Otherwise we may not find your Nana.” Madzie nodded, determined, and Jace felt infinitely guilty. Yeah, he would find her Nana, but only to put her behind bars and using Madzie for this didn’t sit well with him.

Alec was walking with them towards the couch when his phone rang. He looked at Madzie. “It’s okay if Jace shows you the pictures by himself?” he asked softly, Madzie hugged her new toy tightly against her chest. “I’ll be just over there.” Alec pointed at the window on the other side of the room and Madzie nodded reluctantly.

Alec answered his phone but before he could start speaking a very calm, very dangerous voice interrupted him. “Alec, care to explain to me why I’ve just received a picture with Madzie looking extremely adorable with a new toy and a caption by Jace saying ‘Game on’.” Alec winced, glaring at Jace who just smiled at him innocently. 

“Because our brother is an idiot?” he tried, raising his voice to make sure Jace heard him.

Izzy was not amused. “Oh, that I do not doubt. But you said she needed time before we could start coming over. Why is Jace getting a head-start?” 

“He isn’t, he just dropped by to ask her some questions,” Alec explained, eager to pass the blame. “Why are you so angry?” he asked confused.

“Jace has given her a stuffed animal bigger than her. I gave her a lollipop, Alec, a lollipop! If I don’t step up my game I won’t be her favorite and that’s just plain wrong.” Alec sighed, of course his siblings had made a completion out of spoiling Madzie. “Maybe I can get her one of those experiment sets and we can bond over making things blow up,” she mused.

“No, you can’t.”

“Because she is a girl and girls can’t be scientist?” Izzy’s tone was teasing, knowing fully well that that wasn’t it.

"No, because she is four and I don’t want my flat to explode,” Alec corrected her.

Izzy was silent for a minute and Alec redirected his attention towards the couch. Madzie wasn’t speaking but she was smiling and sitting closer to Jace than she had been when Alec had answered the call. “Alec, you said she is comfortable enough with public places as long as no one addresses her, right?”

“Well, yeah. She doesn’t mind people, she doesn’t like attention,” Alec explained.

“And you’ve been going crazy spending so much time at your apartment these last few days.” He was going to protest that he had never said that but well, she wasn’t wrong. His sister knew him far too well. “Okay, then, ask her if she wants to go somewhere with me and you this afternoon, she doesn’t have to talk to me,” Isabelle told him and that was her 'I won't take no for an answer' tone, great. “Or are two people in the same day too much? I can do tomorrow. Or some other day. I don’t mean to push.”

“You aren’t. And I’ll ask her, can I know where you’d take us?” he asked quite curious himself. 

“It’s a surprise. Unless Madzie is uncomfortable with surprises, of course.”

“What if  _ I'm _ uncomfortable with surprises?”

“You’ll live.” Izzy’s tone was teasing but firm enough that Alec knew it was a lost battle. 

“Okay then, I’ll text you later to let you know if we’re game,” he promised, already walking towards Madzie and Jace. 

“Okay, Alec. Love you.” And she hung up before Alec could return the sentiment. Rude. 

Jace was already stacking the pictures when Alec sat by Madzie’s side. “So, what questions do you have?” he asked.

“Already done, they had yes or no answers so Madzie has nodded or shaken her head like a pro. She’s been extremely helpful,” he added raising a hand to pet her hair but catching himself before touching her, stopping his arm mid-motion and letting it drop by his side. 

Madzie got up off the couch and signaled towards her room and Alec nodded his permission. She did that sometimes, when she needed alone time. It had freaked out Alec a bit at first, leaving her all alone in a room but all she did was play with her toys and Alec understood the need for some space. Both men watched amused as she made her way towards it walking in little jumps and still holding her orca. “She seems to like it,” Alec noticed.

“Yeah?” Jace smile was soft. “I’m glad. She’s very sweet,” he said before yawning.

“You look like shit, is everything alright?” Alec asked concerned.

“Yeah, just pulled a couple of all-nighters, that’s all,” Jace explained letting his head drop against the back of the couch. “Man, I’m so glad we forced you to buy this couch.”

“I know Iris is bad news but you won’t find her faster by working yourself to death,” he admonished his little brother trying to hide his concern behind irritation.

“That’s not why…” Jace stopped himself abruptly. “You know, one would think that now that you have an actual child to take care of, you’d lay off me a bit,”

“Not a chance,” Alec rolled his eyes. “And if you are not exhausting yourself in order to find Rouse, what are you doing?”

“Caught that, didn’t you?” Jace smiled a bit frustrated. “I’ve been looking through the missing child’s files of the last four years, trying to find out if Madzie has a family searching for her.”

“Oh,” for some reason that possibility hadn’t occurred to him. He refused to even acknowledge the cold, ugly feeling that tightened in his chest. “And?”

“She doesn’t, unless Iris took her from out of the States,” Jace told him and that was not relief Alec was feeling, it couldn't be.

"Well, now that you know that maybe you can start sleeping again," Alec said because worrying about Jace was far simpler than analyzing whatever it was that he was feeling.

Jace rolled his eyes. "Not all of us can spend all day lazing at home."

"This is the first vacation I’ve taken since college!” Alec reminded him feeling defensive. “I think I’m allowed some rest.”

“Of course you are,” Jace told him softly. “Well, then I better let you get back to it.”

“Wait!” Alec almost screamed. “Stay a little longer?” he asked grabbing his arm and not letting him get up of the couch.

“You okay there, Alec?” 

“No, I haven’t had an adult conversation in days, please don’t go.” And Alec knew he was getting dangerously close to begging but he didn’t care. “Don’t get me wrong, Madzie is extremely smart, but, you know..."

"She is not much of a talker?" suggested Jace and Alec nodded. "So, how badly do you need a conversation?" and if growing up with Jace had taught Alec something it was to not trust that glint in his eyes.

"Why?" he asked a bit scared.

"Oh, no reason" Jace smiled charmingly. "So, my relationship with Clary is going very well..."

"I don't need a conversation that badly," Alec deadpanned.

"C'mon man! I love her and I love you, why can’t you two get along?" Jace sighed.

"Because it's more fun that way," answered Alec rolling his eyes.

"So, you admit that you like her?"

"I tolerate her," Alec conceded. "But I won't be telling her that."

"Why?" Jace and Alec both turned towards the door where Madzie was standing frowning confused.

"Madzie, hi." Alec smiled gesturing her to come to the couch with her.

"She asked you something Alec, you should answer." Jace moved to make room for Madzie making sure she had enough space to be comfortable.

"Well, I kind of like she fears me," Alec started and then winced looking at Madzie that was sitting with her back completely turned away from Jace. "Which is not nice, you shouldn't want people to fear you," he clarified hastily completely aware of how hypocrite he was sounding. Madzie clearly realized it too because she made a half disapproving half questioning sound. "Look, if she's scared of me she will think twice before hurting Jace," he explained grimacing a bit, now Madzie looked worried and Jace was rolling his eyes at him.

"She wants to hurt Jace?" Madzie asked and Jace perked up at the protectiveness in her voice.

"No, she doesn't,” Jace quickly answered. Madzie tensed, like she had forgotten he was still behind her. "Alec is just an overprotective idiot and he worries over nothing." Madzie tugged at Alec’s sleeves, demanding a clarification.

"If she wanted to, she could really, really hurt Jace," he explained and then sighed. "But I shouldn't punish her for something she hasn't done because that's not fair or nice." This whole parenting thing and having to be consequent was really inconvenient. "I won't do it again."

Madzie nodded and then proceeded to sit on the floor to play with her new toy. "You were right, she is extremely smart though I don't envy you having to answer her questions," Jace said and the clear delight on his voice made it difficult for Alec to regret this conversation. "Now I really need to go, some of us aren't on vacation," he teased. "Bye Madzie, it's been very nice to see you." Madzie waved timidly at him. "Walk me to the door." Alec rolled his eyes at the command but he followed Jace anyway. "Did you mean that? Are you really going to make an effort with Clary?" he asked once they were out of hearing range of the girl, and he actually sounded nervous.

"Well now I must, can't lie to Madzie, can I? Nor can I tell her to play nice with other people and then not do the same," Alec explained with a longsuffering sigh. "Having a kid is difficult."

"You seem to be doing something right, she looks much better than she did when you found her," Jace told him clasping his shoulder. "And you know you can call me if you need anything, right? Including a conversation."

"I know, I know, I'll call you, promise." And with that Jace was gone. 

Alec made his way back to the living room and sat on the floor beside Madzie. "Jace was nice, wasn't he?" he asked, Madzie nodded, smiling timidly and he guessed this was as good as a time as any to ask her Izzy's question. "You remember Izzy?"

"She had the needles," Madzie grimaced.

"Yeah, she did," Alec admitted wincing; he really needed to change that association. "She wants to take us somewhere tomorrow, if that's okay with you."

"Where?" Madzie asked frowning a bit. She was sitting far more rigidly than before but it wasn’t a refusal yet so Alec took it as a win. 

"She said it was a surprise but if you really wanted to know she'd tell you." Madzie looked at the floor frowning. "She won't bring her needles, I promise," Alec offered and she relaxed a bit. "And we can leave whenever you want, no explanation needed."

"Okay," agreed Madzie and, while she still looked uncertain, she smiled back when Alec grinned at her.

That night, after Alec had ended up reading to her and was about to go to his bedroom, Madzie stopped him taking his hand and not letting it go. "Can you braid my hair tomorrow?" she asked shyly.

"Of course," Alec smiled at her, delighted of being ask. "Goodnight, sweetheart," the endearment slipped in without his permission.

So before going to sleep Alec spent a couple of hours watching tutorials on Youtube on how to braid. He had some experience thanks to Izzy but her hair and Madzie were different and he'd be damned if he screwed up the first thing Madzie actually asked him to do for her. 

His research paid off the following morning when Madzie shyly handed him the ribbons she was wearing the day Alec had found her and asked for a couple of pigtails. It was quite nice actually, to sit behind her combing her hair in silence. It felt… domestic. And Alec had missed this feeling. It also had the added benefit of calming Madzie down who had been jittery since she had woken up. “Izzy will be here soon,” Alec told her breaking the silence when he was done tying the last ribbon. “Are you still okay with going out with her?”

“You’ll be with me, right?” she asked timidly.

“All the time, and the moment you say you want to go were out,” Alec promised making Madzie smile. 

When the door rang Alec got up to open it and to his surprise Madzie followed him. “Hi,” waved Izzy without trying to enter the apartment. Madzie cautiously looked at her and Alec pressed his lips to contain a snort when he realized the girl was looking for hidden needles.

“Hi, Iz,” he said smiling to his sister who smiled back. “We’re ready to go,” he informed her holding out a hand towards Madzie. She didn’t take it. Instead she held out her arms silently asking Alec to pick her up. Alec snorted but complied without a word, rolling his eyes at his sister cooing.

“Are you two comfortable with the subway or should we take a cab?” Isabelle asked.

“A cab would probably be better,” Alec commented. Madzie was already stepping out of her comfort zone agreeing to go with Izzy, there was no point in overwhelming her.

The ride was not as quiet as Alec had predicted which was a welcome change from the past few days. It may have been less than a week but Izzy already had dozens of new stories to tell him and while he couldn’t care less about most of the gossip he was receiving, it was nice to have his sister rambling by his side. True to her word, she had not tried to engage Madzie in the conversation and Alec could feel her loosening up and eagerly following their exchange, nodding along every time she heard Izzy mention something Jace had done. Izzy noticed that too and soon adapted her stories to include Jace, Clary and Luke realizing by Madzie’s reactions that those were the names she recognized. By the time they arrived to their destination, Madzie was leaning over Alec to hear Izzy better and he was so focused in them he hadn't noticed the place towards they were heading.

“Here we are,” Izzy said opening the door and letting Alec pay for the ride. “Welcome to the New York Aquarium.”

Alec rolled his eyes, of course that’s where they were. Really, he was lucky Madzie hadn’t declared unicorns as her favorite animal, his siblings would have managed to find one and bring it to her. On the other hand, Madzie seemed delighted to go, already pulling at Alec’s hand to get him to hurry up. “Slow down, Madz, the fishes aren’t going anywhere.” The girl pouted. “There will probably be a lot of people so it’s very important you never let go of my hand, okay?”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want you to get lost,” Izzy said with a soft smile. “Now let’s go, I’m dying to see the sharks.”

They went to the conservation hall first and Alec realized that it wasn’t Madzie’s first time there. She knew already which fishes she wanted to see pulling them both towards their zones and pointing them out to Alec with a smile, sometimes even whispering random trivia she knew about them. She loved the tropical fishes and stared at them smiling at their bright colors but her favorite were clearly the deep-sea fishes. Alec didn’t know how he felt about that. He had to admit that their bodies’ form was interesting but they were creepy, especially the Humpback anglerfish which Madzie informed him appeared on Finding Nemo before spending half an hour watching enthralled how it swam in circles. Izzy didn’t seem to have a problem with it at all. In fact, she quickly googled it and spend that time learning everything Wikipedia had to teach about it and passing that information along to them. 

Three hours later they managed to detach Madzie from the glass, taking her to see the sea cliff but she seemed far too unimpressed by the seals and penguins so they quickly moved on to the shark tanks. By that point Madzie was already dragging her feet, but when Alec suggested they go home she refused vehemently so he picked her up and sat her on his shoulders. 

“Now you are the tallest person in the world,” Izzy informed her making her giggle.

The rest of the morning was spent like that, walking around and laughing and when they finally decided to leave Izzy excused herself for a moment so Alec sat Madzie on a bench smiling at her. “This was fun, wasn’t it?” Madzie nodded grinning. “Would you be okay with doing it again? Hanging out with Izzy?”

Madzie bit her lip. “Tomorrow is movie night.”

Alec nodded smiling, surprised the girl remembered that. “Only if you want it to be,” he reassured her. “Movie night means Izzy and Jace, are you okay with that?” Madzie thought about it for a minute before nodding decisively making Alec beam.

“Hey,” Izzy was running towards them holding a green eel plush toy. Alec rolled his eyes while Madzie sat straighter. “For you.”

The girl cuddled the toy against her chest with a tiny smile and took a deep breath. “Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes fixed on the floor.

Izzy’s eyes widened and her face broke into a bright smile but her tone was casual when she replied. “You’re welcome.”

That was the ending note of their little trip and Alec felt like singing for the rest of the day. Madzie seemed happy too, if a bit drained which Alec suspected had a lot more to do with the constant social interaction of the morning than the endless walks, so he allowed her to keep to herself for the rest of the day, sitting with a book by her side while she drew and played with her toys. He had just finished rereading Julius Cesar when his phone buzzed.

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:01]**

She talked to Izzy?!?!?!?!

**[From Alec to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:02]**

That took you a while

**[From Alec to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:02]**

Thought Izzy would have called to brag the second we left the aquarium.

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:03]**

Izzy took her to the aquarium?!?!?!?!?!

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:04]**

How do I compete with that?

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:04]**

You don’t. 

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:04]**

You just admit defeat.

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:05]**

Never

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:09]**

How does Madzie feel about waterparks?

**[From Alec to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:10]**

It’s winter.

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:11]**

In this hemisphere

**[From Alec to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:12]**

Just bring Moana and Finding Nemo tomorrow for movie night, she’ll love that.

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:12]**

Then I am bringing the pizza.

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:12]**

And ice cream.

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:14]**

As long as it is all bought. We don’t want to poison the girl.

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:15]**

What is that supposed to mean?

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:15]**

Your cooking sucks.

**[From Alec to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:16]**

Guys, play nice.

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:16]**

I will if Jace apologize. My cooking isn’t that bad, right Alec?

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:19]**

Alec?

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:23]**

You better have dropped your phone.

**[From Izzy to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:26]**

Alec answer dammit!

**[From Jace to SiblingsThatLightUpTheWorld, 18:28]**

I rest my case.

Alec chucked, pocketing his phone knowing that that would lead to his siblings bickering and, hopefully, Izzy forgetting about her question. 

He was wrong, of course, when his sister arrived next day her first words were, “Did your phone break?” Alec looked at Jace not knowing whatever lying was his best option. “Because you still haven’t told Jace that my cooking isn’t that bad.”

“Isabelle’s cooking is not usually poisonous.” Alec told Jace very seriously, omitting that either way it was usually inedible. 

Jace raised an eyebrow, “So you’ll feed it to Madzie? Because if you do I’ll call Maia to report you for mistreatment.”

“No!” Alec closed his eyes, of course Madzie was listening in on them.

“He isn’t calling Maia, he was just making a very bad joke,” he quickly explained while Jace just gaped like a fish. “He was the one that convinced Maia to let me keep you,” he added seeing that Madzie was still looking at Jace with fear.

Jace scoffed, “it was at the very least a joint effort,” he corrected. “But he is right, I was only joking, I would never let anyone take you from Alec, promise.” Madzie looked at Alec who nodded before smiling at Jace.

“So giving that this is your first Lightwood movie night you need to learn the rules,” Isabelle informed her. “This is important, are you ready?” Madzie nodded seriously. “Perfect, rule number one: this is a Lightwoods night no one else is invited.”

Madzie looked sadly at Alec. “You count as a Lightwood,” Alec was quick to clarify.

“Of course you do,” Izzy rolled her eyes. “Rule number two: no work allowed. If you see Alec using his phone you are allowed to steal it.” 

“I’m on vacation,” he reminded them. “Even if I wanted to work I couldn’t.”

“We learned a long time ago not to underestimate your workoholic tendencies.” Jace patted his arm consolingly.

“Rule number three: no girlfriends, boyfriends or significant others,” Izzy continued. “We had to put this rule because otherwise Jace spends the whole movie texting Clary.” Madzie crossed her arms, glaring at Jace.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” he promised pouting. “She’s attending a concert with Simon anyway.”

Now it was Alec’s turn to pat Jace’s arm soothingly, “Don’t worry, she probably won’t forget you.”

Izzy ignored them. “And the last rule is to have fun.” It was such a cliché that Alec couldn’t help to roll his eyes but Madzie was smiling and nodding earnestly, so he decided not to comment. 

“And to ensure you have all the fun,” Jace stepped in literally shoving Izzy to the side, “I’ve brought you a couple of movies you can pick from because, let’s face it, Alec’s collection is deplorable.” And Alec was not surprised when the ‘couple’ of movies ended up being about a dozen. “Which one should we watch first?”

Madzie picket one smiling, “Moana,” she said and Jace beamed.

“Moana it is.”

After that night things got simpler. Madzie genuinely seemed to like both Jace and Izzy so Alec allowed them to start regularly dropping by his apartment again. At the beginning they brought Madzie something every time they did, until Alec started to fear the girl would soon have more possessions than he did and put a stop to that, making sure Madzie knew it had been him so she wouldn’t get upset with his siblings. It was one thing to want to spoil a little scared girl like Madzie a bit and another very different to try to bribe her into acceptance, and his siblings didn’t need that; with each visit Madzie was opening up more and more to them, speaking in full sentences and even initiating hugs and kisses that didn’t fail to make his siblings smile delighted. She even agreed to be with them without Alec, though not for longer than half an hour and always at Alec's place so she could be sure he was coming back.

So of course that was when Alec received a call from Jace at five in the morning. "We found her."

"Ugh?" Alec asked rubbing his eyes.

"Iris Rouse, we have her," Jace repeated, his voice torn between happiness and worry.

That woke Alec up completely. "Has she said anything about Madzie?"

"No," Jace answered quickly. "She refuses to talk about her unless she can meet her guardian," he explained and Alec could hear the pure loathing in his brother’s voice. "She’s pretty entitled for someone who abandoned her in a coffee shop, if you ask me."

"I'll ask Izzy to babysit but I have to wait until Madzie is awake to explain it to her and it's going to take some convincing so I'll probably come around ten," Alec calculated getting up and putting the phone on speaker to start getting dressed. There was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep, he may as well be productive.

"You don't have to talk to her if you don't want to," Jace told him but he didn't sound too convinced himself.

"Yes, I do, it's for Madzie," Alec answered, his tone final. 

"Will you tell her that we've found her Nana?" Jace asked, and Alec knew he was terrified of Madzie resenting him for it. 

"I have to, I can't lie to her. Especially not about this." Alec sighed. "But she is going to want to see her and I want to make sure Iris won't hurt her first."

"For what it’s worth, that woman may be as evil as it gets but she seems to actually love Madzie. Maybe speaking with her would help, you know? Give Madz some closure," Jace told him unusually serious. "I mean when I confronted Valentine it hurt like hell but it also helped me. I needed to understand nothing had been my fault, that I had done nothing wrong to make him act the way he acted."

"You're probably right but I still need to make sure that woman won't break her heart first. I'll tell Madzie I have to come help you with something related to Nana, that's true, right? And when I come back I'll explain the rest to her." Alec decided, taking the device off of speakerphone and leaving the room.

"Seems like a plan," said Jace. "I'll see you later then.”

"Bye," Alec hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh. 

The door of Madzie's room was closed because she couldn't sleep otherwise, afraid of someone suddenly appearing in the threshold. Alec opened it slowly and silently. Madzie was sleeping peacefully and Alec smiled sadly, this was it, wasn't it? Iris would tell them who her family was and Alec would have to give her up. Would they let him visit her? Would Madzie understand that this wasn't his doing? And how was he supposed to go back to his life before? He'd never realized how horrible it was to come back to an empty apartment, how lonely his life felt without the girl. Madzie stirred in her sleep breaking Alec out of his thoughts. She was smiling and Alec realized that she hadn't had a nightmare in three nights now. Would having to move to another place make those resurface? Would her new family check on her every night and wake her if she was crying in her sleep? And what if she didn't have a family? Jace seemed very convinced she hadn't been kidnapped. He had adopted her under temporal terms but maybe... if she didn't have another option maybe he could... Alec sighed and got up to rearrange the covers over her before leaving the room, it was no use getting his hopes up. All he would get out of it was a broken heart. 

But on the other hand it didn't hurt to be prepared, right? And it wasn’t like he was going to go back to sleep anyway, so he opened his computer and started researching about the legal proceedings in complicated adoptions. By seven he couldn't wait anymore and he picked up the phone to call Izzy.

"Someone better be dying," was her muffled greeting and Alec winced remembering she had had a late shift the day before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up but I'm going to need you to babysit Madzie all morning," Alec explained apologetically.

"All morning? Did she agree to this?" his sister asked surprised.

"No, so you better pick up breakfast on your way over to make her more amenable." Alec sighed. "Jace called, he has Iris but she will only talk after meeting Madzie's guardian and, well...” he trailed off.

"Okay, I'll be there around eight," Izzy promised.

So Alec hung up and headed towards Madzie's room. Usually he let her sleep for a while longer but it would be better for everyone if he talked to her before Izzy arrived.

He shook her gently and she groaned. "Five more minutes," she begged, hiding her head beneath the covers.

"Sorry, darling, time to wake up." Alec took away the covers and Madzie pouted at him. "What do you want to wear today?"

"The yellow dress and the hair down," Madzie replied and Alec frowned, he had hoped she'd want her hair braided. It may sound stupid but he felt like that was bonding time and it would have felt easier to explain to her he was leaving all morning without looking her in the eyes.

He helped her get dressed and make her bed in silence but not in the comfortable kind they usually shared, in a tense one that Madzie was quickly picking up on. "Izzy is coming for breakfast," Alec started and was grateful that Madzie’s first reaction was to smile happily. "She'll stay with you all morning while I help Jace with your Nana."

"No," Madzie protested, frowning. She closed her arms in front of her, a gesture she had picked out from him, and glared.

"Yes," retorted Alec firm but softly. "If I help Jace you may be able to see your Nana," he explained. “That's what you want, right?"

"But Jace can do that," Madzie protested now sounding more panicking than angry. "Don't leave."

"I'll be back, I promise." Alec kneeled in front of her reaching out and arm towards her but stopping when he saw her flinching away. "You'll be home and Izzy will be with you, you've stayed alone together before." 

"Was I bad?" Madzie asked and there were tears in her eyes. Alec yearned to hug her but her reaction before stopped him.

"No, of course not," he reassured her. "And I'll be back as fast as I can because I hate not seeing you," he promised, "but I need to do this and you have to be brave and trust me. Madzie, look at me," he demanded softly causing the girl to fix her watery eyes in his. "Have I ever told you anything that wasn't true? Or done anything that implied that I didn't want you around?" Madzie shook her head. "Then you have to believe me, I will be out all morning but I'll be back for lunch and you’ll get to pick what we eat, okay?" Madzie nodded, still looking uncertain and took a couple of steps towards him. Alec took the hint and opened his arms, letting her hug him and holding her back just as tightly. "I will come back," he repeated.

Needless to say, Alec wasn’t exactly in the best of moods when he arrived at the precinct. Madzie had looked warily optimistic during breakfast, still hoping Alec would change his mind and stay. When he hadn’t she had directed him a look of utter betrayal that just wouldn’t disappear out of Alec’s mind. He had almost turned around three times wanting to go home and erase the heartbreak in Madzie’s face, but every time he reminded himself that he was doing the right thing. Maybe seeing Iris again would help Madzie stop being so afraid when he left. Or maybe it wouldn’t but anyway Madzie needed to learn that Alec would always come back to her and she needed to learn it before Alec had to go back to work or she had to start school. 

“You are scaring the civilians, stop glaring,” Jace greeted him. “I take it Madzie wasn’t happy with you leaving?”

Alec did not dignify him with an answer. “Where’s that woman?”

“I’ll take you to her but, Alec,” Jace grabbed him by the arm stopping him, “maybe you should calm down before you go in there?” Alec scoffed. “I mean it, she is the only one that knows where Madzie comes from, provoking her may cost Madzie a family.”

Alec nodded, took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. After all if there was one thing he excelled at it was bottling up his emotions. “Okay, I’m good.”

Jace let him to one of the interrogating rooms. “I’ll be behind the glass all the time but she wants to speak to you alone.”

Iris was disappointedly normal. After all she had done Alec had half expected her to be a two dimensional cartoon villain but she was just a woman, sitting elegantly on the uncomfortable plastic chair who held her head high with a mix of pride and defiance. Alec loathed her at first sight.

“So you are the one that’s been looking after my Madzie?” she didn’t seem too impressed.

Alec sat down crossing his arms. “And you are the one that abandoned her in a coffee shop,” he deadpanned managing to sound even less impressed than her.

That caught her attention, she straightened up and had the gall to look affronted. “I didn’t mean to do that.”

“I really don’t care what you meant to do,” Alec informed her fuelled by Madzie’s expression that morning. “You did and now she has to live with it.” 

“I want to see her, explain everything,” and she was still making demands like she had any right at all at Madzie’s time.

“And why should I let her anywhere near you?” Alec raised an eyebrow. 

“Because she is my goddaughter!” 

“So what? You lost all rights over her the moment you abandoned her.” Alec knew Jace was probably despairing on the adjourned room but regardless of what it seemed he wasn’t acting on emotions. Iris was a proud woman but her situation was desperate and if she wanted to see Madzie again he had to play by Alec rules. “The truth is I don’t want a criminal near her.”

“I’m not a criminal, I’m a scientist.” Alec rolled his eyes. “Do you have any idea how many people die of AIDs every year? What are a few deaths of collateral damage in comparison to that?”

“Would you feel the same if Madzie was one of those ‘collateral damages’?” Alec asked genuinely curious of the answer. Iris’ face twisted in horror at the thought before she managed to compose a blank expression again. So Jace had been right, she did love Madzie. Not that it excused her blatant disregard for human lives and sheer hypocrisy, of course. “I’ll take that as a not.” 

“We all have our weakness.” She crossed her arms stubbornly keeping her tone dismissive. “But we are not here to talk about my work,” Alec snorted at her chosen word, “we are here because if you want me to tell you anything at all you’ll have to bring Madzie to me.”

Alec rolled his eyes. Did Iris really think she had any sort of leverage? “No,” he told her firmly. “You have no right at all to make demands and nothing that happens here will be for your benefit,” he explained calmly. “The police do not need your confession, they have the testimonies of all your victims and more proof than they know what to do with. They have also located your home where I’m sure they will find all the information they need about you and Madzie. See, my sister is a scientist, and not a crazy one, so I know that a vital part of your process is to write everything down. You’ve been experimenting since before Madzie, haven’t you? How many notebooks filled with details of your crimes will they find?”

Iris pursed her lips, still refusing to admit defeat. “What makes you think there’s anything about Madzie on those? She isn’t part of my work.”

“From what I’ve been told your work is your life. You adopting Madzie doesn’t make sense unless you had no choice. Maybe she was the daughter of one of your victims? Or you kidnapped her in hopes to experiment with her when she grew up. Anyhow her being in your notebooks is a pretty sure bet.” Alec was done playing, Madzie was waiting for him and he really didn’t want to suffer Iris presence for a second longer. “Here’s what is going to happen. You’ll tell me everything there is to know about Madzie, on record for the police, because I think it would be better for her if this was resolved as fast as possible. Then I may consider letting you see her, if and only if you manage to convince me that it would be good for her. She does need the closure but I won’t have her around someone who will in any way hurt her. And please spare me your feelings and opinions on the matter, they are of no consequence.”

Iris opened her mouth to protest but stopped herself. She was smart enough to know when she had been beaten. Her whole façade crumbled and Alec found himself looking at a desperate woman. “Patient 08,” she started, “that was her mother. You’ll find any information you need on her in my notes which are hidden on a fake drawer in my desk.” Well, that would certainly make Jace’s job easier. “She got ill after having Madzie and came to me because she wasn’t in the country legally.”

“Madzie…” Alec started, already thinking on how to fight immigration laws.

“She was born here, I’m sure the police will be happy to give you all her papers when they find them, I made sure to keep them in order.” Alec relaxed a bit. “Anyway, 08 was dead a month after they came to me and I had grown attached to Madzie so I kept her.” There was something very messed up at her not referring to the woman by her name, did she even remember it? “She doesn’t have any other family, I’m all she has and I’ve told you what you needed to know, so please let me see her. I need her to know that I never wanted to leave her or hurt her in any way. I know you disapprove of me and my research but you have to believe me when I say that I love her. I only want to say goodbye.” 

Iris had done so much harm to so many people that Alec could not truly pity her. Despite that it was clear that she was desperate to see Madzie one last time and Alec had promised her that he would try to get her Nana back. “I’ll think about it,” he said and left the room not pausing to see Iris expression. 

“You are going to bring Madzie, aren’t you?” Jace asked as soon as Alec was outside. 

Alec nodded. “You were right, it’ll probably do her good.”

“Can I…” Jace started hesitantly. “Can I be the one to tell her?” Alec raised an eyebrow. “It’s just I told her I’d find her Nana, and I have, but I arrested her and she will probably never live with her again.”

“That’s not your fault,” Alec told him firmly.

“I know but it feels like I owe it to her.” Jace shrugged his shoulders. “And there is always the possibility that she’ll ha… that she’ll be mad with the person that tells her and better me than you, right?”

“She won’t hate you,” Alec promised but part of him wasn’t so sure he was right.

So an hour and a half later, after they had all eaten Madzie’s favourite pizza, they sat the girl down. When they had arrived Madzie had thrown herself at Alec hugging him as tight as she could. After reassuring herself that Alec was indeed back, though, she proceeded to give him the cold shoulder, refusing to talk to him, or Jace who she seemed to regard as an accomplice, and being extra sweet towards Izzy who couldn’t quite hide her delight at the clear favouritism. Because of that Alec was even more nervous about this conversation than he had been in the morning.

“Madz, I know you are mad at me but can you please listen to us for a minute, Jace has some news for you,” he told her feeling Jace tense by his side.

“I’m afraid I have bad news about your Nana,” Jace started crossing his arms protectively in front of his chest. Madzie reached for Alec’s hand. “I have found her but she has done some very bad things and she needs to be grounded so you can’t go back to her.”

“Can’t you forgive her? I’m sure she didn’t mean to,” Madzie implored and Alec felt her tightening her grip on his hand.

“I can’t, I’m sorry. I am not the one grounding her,” Jace explained squaring his shoulders. “But even if I was I couldn’t do it, because my job is to protect people and your Nana hurt them so I can just let her go, do you understand?”

Madzie blinked. “Who did she hurt?”

Jace looked at Alec for guidance, not really knowing how to explain Iris’ crimes to the girl and his older brother decided to answer for him. “You remember the sad ladies you told me about? They didn’t want to be there but your Nana didn’t let them go. And they didn’t want to be your Nana’s patients but she didn’t ask and that’s wrong. Would you like it if Izzy used her needles on you without asking?” Madzie shook her head horrified. “Exactly, and that’s why Izzy won’t do it. Jace needs to make sure your Nana doesn’t use hers on people who don’t want them anymore.”

Madzie was silent for a minute, thinking about what Alec had said until she finally spoke, “I want to see Nana.”

“And you can,” Alec promised. “Do you want to go now?” Madzie nodded.

The moment they stepped into the room Madzie threw herself at Iris, sobbing in her arms much to Alec’s dismay. He stepped forward intending to separate them but stopped, Iris was clutching Madzie while she sobbed into her hair and did not seem like she meant any harm at all. Five minutes later, when Madzie had calmed down a bit and stepped away from Iris, Alec picked her up, sitting her in his laps on the other side of the table.

“Madzie, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to leave you alone for so long.” 

“I wasn’t alone, Alec found me,” Madzie told Iris with a smile making Alec feel warm. “Why did you leave?” and Alec knew her well enough to her the ‘ _ me’ _ she hadn’t added.

“I did something,” Iris started carefully, looking at Alec, “and I didn’t want to face the consequences of that.” 

Madzie frowned. “But Alec says…” she started looking at the man confused. “You have to face the consequences, right?”

“Yes, you do.” Alec nodded. “Because the consequences will catch you anyway.” He looked pointedly to Iris.

“How have you been?” Iris asked changing the topic completely, looking concerned at Madzie. 

“Fine. Alec is really cool.” Madzie smiled at him who couldn’t help but return the smile. “And so are Jace and Izzy.”

“Jace? Jace Lightwood?” Iris looked at Alec who felt himself tense.

“He is the one that found you,” Madzie offered eagerly and Alec closed his eyes dreading Iris’ next words. For all her evilness it was clear that Madzie loved her, so if she tried to poison the girl against Jace the situation would get really messed up. Not that Jace wouldn’t manage to get Madzie’s affections back but…

“I see. Do you like him?”

Madzie nodded enthusiastically. “He got me an orca toy! Because they look like fish even though they aren’t really fish.”

“Well, he sounds really nice.” Iris smiled and Alec’s jaw drop. “I’m glad you have people who get you cool things.” Iris was talking to Madzie but her eyes were firmly on Alec. She took a deep breath. “Little one, I’m going to have to leave for a while.”

“Can I come with you?” Madzie’s question hurt more than Alec was expecting, that woman had raised Madzie for years, he had only had her a couple of weeks, of course Madzie wanted to go with her instead of staying with Alec. “Can Alec come too?” 

Alec was too busy smiling at her to see Iris painted expression when she answered. “I’m afraid you can’t come with me, Madzie, it’s not a place where they allow children.”

“But…”

“Maybe once you are older and not a kid anymore you can come visit me, okay?” Iris promised, her eyes once again trained on Alec. He nodded, if that was what Madzie wanted once she was an adult, he wouldn’t stand in the way. “Now I think you should leave.”

“I don’t wanna.” Madzie’s eyes were full of tears and Alec hugged her against his chest. 

“And I don’t want you to go,” Iris admitted. “But it is for the best believe me.” She turned towards Alec. “Take her away.”

Alec got up, Madzie still in his arms. “Say goodbye, Madz,” he said softly but Madzie shook her head trying to wriggle out of his hold. Iris’ eyes were fixed on the table and as wet as Madzie’s. “Darling, do you want to hug Iris before she leaves?” Alec offered placing Madzie in front of the woman without expecting an answer. 

Madzie hugged Iris who kissed her forehead. “Promise me you’ll be happy,” she asked and Madzie nodded. “Take her away,” Iris repeated shoving Madzie gently towards Alec.

The moment they stepped out of the room Alec saw Jace walking towards them but he shook his head. Madzie was still sobbing desperately against his chest and he didn’t think that more attention was going to help her. He sat on Jace’s desk petting his head until her sobs stopped being so frequent and she managed to catch her breath. “Madz, I know you are sad but we need to talk.” The girl looked at him curiously her big eyes red and puffy. “I agreed to take you in until Jace found your Nana,” Alec started and that made Madzie look even more miserable.

“You don’t want me anymore?” she asked completely breaking Alec’s heart.

“Of course I want you,” he reassured her before that thought had any chance to stick. “I want to ask you if you want to live with me indefinitely.” Madzie looked confused. “If you want to live with me until you are older,” Alec cleared.

Madzie nodded shyly. “Does that mean you’ll be my dad?”

And Alec hadn’t really thought about Madzie calling him that before but when she did it felt right. The truth was that he had been thinking of Madzie as his daughter for some time already. “If you want me to be.” Madzie smiled bright as the sun and nodded making Alec grin back.

However, Madzie smile fell two seconds later. “Am I really not going to see Nana again?

“Not for a lot of years.” He sighed when that make Madzie start crying again, just reaching for her and holding her as tight as he dared. So Alec sat there, with the girl still weeping in his arms while he caressed her head murmuring reassurances in her ear. It was so reminiscent of that first morning in his couch. Back then he had promised himself he would protect her from anything and in this moment he renewed that vow. Madzie was his daughter and only good things will come to her from this point on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no Magnus yet, I know, but I wanted Alec and Madzie to be solid before introducing him. He'll be in next chapter which should come out next Friday. This chapter 'theme' was, unsurprisingly, daughter and I hope you liked it? Kudos and comments feed me so please, leave one if you want.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally meet Magnus! Also some people are very rude to Madzie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Here's chapter three, we are already halfway through it! We finally meet Magnus! And Lydia too makes a more consistent appearence.

Jace had been right, Madzie’s talk with Iris had done her a lot of good, despite making the girl’s nightmares resurface. Or maybe it had been Alec formalizing the adoption. Either way she seemed freer and less scared. She had stopped clinging to Alec every time he came back after leaving her sight and acted comfortable enough around Jace and Izzy that Alec decided it was time to start slowly introducing her to new people, which was a good thing since Lydia had called him asking whatever he could drop by the office as soon as possible.

“Madz, do you want to go see where I work?” he asked the girl over breakfast. “We can go there this morning and say hi to Lydia.”

“Lydia is your friend?” Madzie lowered her mug on the table.

“Best friend,” Alec corrected with a smile.

“Jace’s your best friend.” Madzie pouted at him. “And Izzy.”

“Well, yeah, but saying that your best friend is your sibling stops being cute after you are ten and then people just think you are lame,” he joked, making Madzie frown. “Look, I met Lydia at college, where I didn’t have Jace or Izzy, she is my favorite person I’m not related to. That better?” Madzie thought about it for a few seconds before nodding, settling the subject.

A couple of hours later they were at the firm, walking towards Lydia’s office with Madzie sitting on his shoulders. He greeted some people from afar but kept his distance, discouraging them to come talk to him.

“So this is Madzie? Izzy can’t stop talking about you.” Lydia extended her hand to Madzie who took it in an adorable handshake. “I’m Lydia, it’s nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Madzie whispered against Alec’s hair.

Alec carefully put her down onto a chair before turning towards his friend. “Hey, Lids.”

“Hi,” Lydia smiled hugging him briefly. “How’s this vacation treating you?”

“Better than I thought,” he admitted, “though I do miss work. Any problems with my clients?”

“Well, the answer was no until yesterday,” she started. “That’s why I called you.” Lydia sat back down on her desk and Alec imitated her. “Ragnor is suing some other author for plagiarism, it should be an easy case but well, you know Ragnor, he is… prickly,” Alec nodded with a wince, in comparison to Ragnor, _he_ was a social butterfly, “and he is refusing to be defended by anyone but you.” She sighed handing Alec a folder. “Look, I’ve already done all the work, all that’s left is going to court, I just need you to convince him to let me do it.”

Alec looked through the files. “Or I could do it,” he offered almost hopefully. “You are right, it’s an easy case. If played right it would only take an afternoon to defend,” he turned towards Madzie. “Will you be okay spending an afternoon with Jace or Izzy?” the girl nodded with an enthusiastic smile so Alec looked at Lydia again. “If you prefer I can talk to Ragnor, but I know him and he is going to be hard to convince.”

“No, no,” Lydia shook her head with a smile, looking relieved, “if you can do it, that’d be great. I’ll swing by yours and help you prepare for it, if you want.”

Alec nodded. “Perfect.” He turned towards Madzie to pick her up but he found her frowning. “It’s okay with you if Lydia comes home sometimes, right?” he checked, feeling guilty he had forgotten about her discomfort, but she just nodded. “Okay, then.”

The next days were great. Alec had forgotten how much he loved his job and had grossly underestimated how bored he had been without it. Lydia brought the case over and, while she had done an amazing job assembling it, Alec spent the nights double checking it just for fun (and yeah, he was not admitting that to Jace). There was also the fact that he wanted this case to be solved quickly so he needed everything to be nothing short of perfect. That’s why Lydia started spending the nights at their house, helping him get familiarized with all the evidence and work over some new angles. He would have felt guilty about making her work after hours but he knew her well enough to know she was having as much fun as he was. And Alec had missed this, he realized, the nights of working till dawn on cases and eating takeout in their pajamas. “What are you smiling for, Lightwood?” Lydia asked amused.

“Nothing really,” Alec told her but she just raised an eyebrow. “It’s just, doesn’t this remind you of University?”

Lydia smiled softly. “Yeah, it kind of does,” she admitted putting down the papers she was holding. “We should really work on cases together more often.”

Alec smiled back at her but before he could agree he saw Madzie coming into the room. “Madz, you should be in bed, it’s really late.”

Madzie rubbed her eyes. “I can’t sleep,” she explained sitting on Alec’s lap. She didn’t even look in Lydia’s direction which was not a new development. She had seemed to like her at the beginning but now she barely spoke to her and threw fits for no apparent reason when Lydia was with them. Alec still didn’t know what had make the girl change her opinion so drastically but he was resolved to talk to her the minute he got her alone.

“Do you want me to make you some warm milk?” Lydia asked immediately, and it was kind of sad seeing her trying to get on Madzie’s good graces so hard. “That usually helps me sleep.”

“Okay,” Madzie accepted with a yawn and Lydia’s face lightened up. She quickly stood up to make the promised drink, all work forgotten.

“That was really nice of Lydia, wasn’t it?” Alec remarked while Madzie made herself comfortable against his chest.

“I suppose.”

Alec sighed but didn’t push the issue. He kept working in silence until Lydia came back. “I put a bit of honey and cinnamon in it,” she explained. “I hope you like it.”

Madzie took the drink hesitantly and took a sip. “It’s good,” she admitted, looking pained for it.

“And?” prompted Alec who was extremely surprised at Madzie’s lack of manners.

“Thank you, Lydia,” the girl said through gritted teeth, her gaze stubbornly fixed on the mug.

“Madzie, can I ask you a question?” Lydia sat down next to Alec again. The girl shrugged her shoulders so Lydia looked at Alec who nodded. “Have I done something wrong? Because if I have, I’d like to apologize and I need to know what it was so I don’t do it again.” Madzie shook her head looking a bit sheepish. “Then why don’t you like me anymore?”

“I don’t want daddy to get married,” Madzie admitted awkwardly.

Alec and Lydia snorted in synchrony. “Believe me, Madz, I have no intention of marrying your dad,” Lydia informed her, grimacing to an extent Alec found a bit offensive.

“Nana said that when a girl and a boy like each other very much they get married,” Madzie explained looking confused and it took all of Alec’s willpower not to roll his eyes at that.

“I like Lydia the way I like Izzy, not the way people like each other when they marry,” he gently explained instead.

“Then why is she sleeping here so many times?” Madzie asked still not understanding.

“Because we work until late and it’s dangerous to go back home when we are done,” Lydia told her kindly. “And I always sleep on the couch, start worrying if someone starts sleeping in Alec’s room.” Alec elbowed her. “If it bothers you I won’t sleep over again, though.”

“You can stay if you are really not marrying daddy,” she allowed magnanimously.

“She really isn’t,” Alec remarked wincing at the mere idea. “I promise you,” then he took a deep breath. “Madzie, if I ever marry someone it will be a man. Not a woman.”

“Can boys marry boys?” Madzie asked innocently surprised.

“Yeah, boys can marry boys and girls can marry girls and boys and girls can marry each other if both of them want to,” Alec told her firmly. “But only when they are grownups.”

“And sometimes a person doesn’t mind whatever they are marrying a boy or a girl because they think that person is really great either way,” Lydia added softly. “Some people don’t want to get married at all and that’s okay too.”

“That’s cool then,” Madzie commented with a shrug. “Sorry I was rude to you, the milk was really good,” she apologized with a shy smile giving the now empty mug back to her. “I’m really sleepy now.”

Alec smiled scooping the girl into his arms before getting up. “To bed with you then.”

“Wait,” Madzie said making Alec stop halfway out of the room. “Lydia, can you do my hair tomorrow? Your braid is really cool.”

“Of course,” Lydia promised, beaming. “I can even show you and Alec how to make it so you can wear it whenever you like.”

"Thank you, Lyds," the girl said, yawning. "Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams."

Alec smiled, carrying the girl and made a mental note to ask Lydia for the recipe of that milk when he saw that Madzie had already fallen asleep in his arms by the time they got to her room. He tucked her into bed and brushed a light kiss against her forehead before going back to Lydia. "So you really won't marry me? I'm heartbroken," he joked.

"Sorry Alec, you aren't my type." Lydia winked at him.

"And that's coming from the girl who once told me she wouldn't turn down either of my siblings?" He raised an eyebrow in mock offence.

"You know you can't hold me accountable of anything I say after my fourth shot," Lydia protested. "Also, have you seen Izzy and Jace? They are not hot, they are scorching."

Alec cringed, "Lydia!"

"You weren't nearly that grossed out when I asked for your sister’s phone number," she reminded him before stealing some of his noodles.

"That's because you did it in front of my mother while she was trying to set us up," said Alec, batting her chopsticks away from his food. "God, do you remember the face she made?"

They both laughed at the memory. "Oh yeah, I didn't know it was anatomically possible for a face to freeze like that."

"Well, my mother always did say that impossible just means try harder," he commented and while his tone was light Lydia could detect a wishful note in it.

"She still hasn't reached out to you, has she?" she asked softly.

Alec shook his head. "No, and I don't think she ever will." He tried to smile reassuringly but fell short. "But it's okay, I already have a family, I don't need her."

"You don't need her," acknowledged Lydia placing a hand on his shoulder. "But that doesn't make it okay."

"Well maybe it's not okay, but it is what it is," Alec answered nonchalantly. "Come on, let's get back to work."

By the day of the trial, Alec was confident he had every chance to win the case but, because his life could never be simple, the same afternoon it was to happen Jace and Izzy called him to explain some big arrest had been made and were both needed in the precinct. So, Alec had a trial in three hours and a four year old with no one to look after her. Great.

“Why don’t we take her?” asked Lydia when he was already on his wit’s end. “We both know she will be quite and I can sit with her to make sure she isn’t too bored. I’m sure she’ll love to see you work.” And, as reticent as Alec was to take her daughter to the courthouse, that seemed like the best option. And it wasn’t like this was a murder trial after all.

Like Alec had predicted the trial went without a hitch and four hours later the man trying to steal Ragnor’s idea had been fined and forbidden to sell his new book. Luckily, Ragnor was a man of few words and simply thanked Alec before letting him go to his daughter, though experience told Alec that sometime next week he’d be receiving an expensive bottle of something strong that his sister would undoubtedly appreciate. Madzie was buzzing when Alec got to her, even a quiet and calm little girl like her had difficulties staying put for four hours despite Lydia taking her out of the courtroom several times to let her move a bit.

She threw herself to his neck the second he was close enough. “You won!”

“I did,” laughed Alec lifting her up. “I always win,” he whispered in her ear and Madzie nodded seriously.

“Did you have fun?” Madzie asked sweetly causing Alec to chuckle.

“Yes, yes I did.” And maybe it was time to go back to work but… “Madzie, how would you feel about going somewhere to play with other boys and girls during the mornings?”

Madzie frowned. “Would you come too?”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Alec answered sincerely and the girl's frown deepened. “Look, next year you are going to have to start school and I think daycare would be good practice for you. You need to start playing with other kids.” And that was what worried Alec the most, he hadn’t been the most sociable person but he had had Izzy and Jace always by his side making new friends and sharing them with Alec. Madzie wouldn’t have that and Alec didn’t want her to end up lonely. If she needed to learn how to interact with people her age it was better she did it in daycare, where she would be less than a year, than in a school, where chances were she would be at least five. “Look it’s totally up to you but I think you would like it.”

“Can I think about it?” Madzie was looking at her feet, clearly not onboard with the idea but her body language read annoyance instead of terror like it would have two weeks ago, so Alec felt reaffirmed in his decision that she was ready.

“Of course,” he promised. “You know what we could do? We could visit a couple of those places and see whatever you like them or not, would you be okay with that?”

Idris daycare was the most prestigious in the city, it had the fanciest installation and stellar reviews from every successful new yorker with kids. It was also the daycare where all the Lightwood siblings had attended and while Alec refused to raise her daughter the way he had been raised, he had to admit that he only had fond memories of the institution. Going there also guaranteed a place in Idris Elementary School and Idris High School who were both renowned for their education and high acceptance in Ivy League colleges. Not that Madzie had to attend those but Alec wanted her to have the chance.

That’s where Alec took Madzie next Monday at nine in the morning on the dot. Madzie was holding his hand tight enough to hurt but she was also looking around with curiosity, seemingly quite taken with the drawings that hung on the walls. A short woman wearing glasses entered the room and Madzie snapped into attention. “Hi, thank you so much for coming,” she smiled kindly at them, “I’m Lindsay.”

“Alec Lightwood.” He shook her hand. “And this is my daughter, Madzie.”

“She is a shy one, isn’t she?” Lindsay’s smile was all professionalism.

“Madzie doesn’t like new people,” Alec explained wanting to make sure they would respect the girl’s comfort zone. “If she were to attend, she may not want to do all group activities or chat with all the kids.”

“That’s okay, her teacher will be informed and she’ll act accordingly. We pride ourselves on our personalized treatment of every child we take in.” With that Madzie relaxed visibly. “Would you like a tour?”

The tour was pleasant, Lindsay seemed to understand that neither of them was a big fan of talking so she kept her descriptions short and concise. Madzie seemed to like the place, much despite herself Alec noticed, and at some point she even asked a couple of questions to their guide. For his part Alec was quite enjoying his trip down memory lane. Sometimes it seemed that Jace had been with them forever, but this building was full of memories from before, memories of him and Izzy sneaking out of their respective classrooms to play together, hiding from both of their teachers. He couldn’t help but smile fondly when they passed through some of their favorite hideouts.

“And this would be Madzie’s classroom.” Lindsay stopped in front of a door decorated with a seahorse. “Sadly your teacher is ill today. Mr. Duncan has taken over the class.” She winked at a young man who was sitting surrounded by kids. “Hi everyone, this is Madzie. She may be with us from now on.” Madzie waved timidly in response to the ‘hello’ of the other students.

“We are reading Hansel and Gretel, would you like to join us?” asked Duncan softly and Madzie nodded turning towards Alec.

“Go, I’ll be just outside talking to Lindsay, okay?” and with that Madzie hurried taking a seat beside the other kids. Duncan started his reading and the other two adults left the room.

“She seems to like it here,” Alec commented with a smile.

“We do try our best.” Lindsay smiled at him. “If you do want to enroll her you should do it before next week, though.”

“Why?” Alec asked confused. Madzie would be enrolling out of turn anyway so he didn’t see a reason for a week to make such a difference.

“There’s a trip to Pandemonium next Thursday, and trust me, she’ll want to go,” the girl confided in him.

“Pandemonium? The hotel?”

“Yes, they have a daycare of their own there and sometimes they invite other institutions to their installations. It’s like wonderland for kids.” Lindsay’s eyes were bright and her voice passionate. “It’s amazing, they have ball pools and toboggans and monkey bars and bouncing castles and so many children’s books! Going there is the highlight of the children’s year I promise you.”

“Why would a hotel need a daycare?” Alec asked though he had to admit that trip sounded cool. He tried to think about what he knew of Pandemonium but, beside the fact that it was owned by the Downworld group, whose CEO Magnus Bane made the Times almost monthly, it wasn’t much.

“For their employees mostly, they have a lot of single mothers in their staff so I suppose they figured out that taking care of their children would ensure their loyalty and gratefulness.” Lindsay shrugged. “And for the tourists that come here with children too young to walk through the city, so they have a place to drop them. I suppose that guarantees them the family tourism goes to their hotel first.”

Alec nodded. “It does sound like a fun trip,” he admitted. “You said Madzie’s teacher is ill?”

“Yeah, she’s been for a couple of days but I assure you, Duncan may just be a substitute but he is amazing with children,” there was a softness in her voice when she spoke of him that made Alec curious as to the nature of their relationships. Though no curious enough to pry, of course.

“He seemed nice,” Alec allowed and was rewarded with a smile.   

“He is. And he is a great teacher. It’s a shame there isn’t a fix position for him here.” Lindsay shook her head, realizing that she was getting sidetracked. “Anyway, maybe we should go over the rates and all the boring stuff while Madzie is occupied?” Alec nodded and followed her to her office.

Half an hour later Alec went back to the classroom, Madzie was sitting beside a redhead boy looking completely enthralled by the story so instead of taking her home he sat on one of the too small chairs and waited until Duncan was done. The teacher read them a couple of fairytales more until closing the book and announcing that it was lunch hour.

“Did you have fun?” Alec asked picking up Madzie will the other kids left the classroom in an organized queue.

“It was okay,” the girl allowed looking less mad than before. “The other kids were talking about a trip next week,” she whispered to Alec.

“Yeah? I’ve been told that it’s a really cool one, maybe you’d want to go?” Alec held his breath, waiting for her answer.

“Do they really have a ball pool?” Madzie asked and Alec smiled, nodding.

“So I’ve been told,” he answered. “You know what we could do? We could try it for a couple of weeks so you get to go on that cool trip and if you don’t like it you can stop coming afterwards.”

The first day Madzie went to daycare Alec didn’t go to the office. He wanted to make sure he was available if someone in Idris called him, having promised Madzie he’d pick her up if she really needed him to. He ought not to have worry. Despite the tight hug Madzie had given him before braving her classroom (and really, letting her go should not have been that difficult for Alec, he could survive a morning without her… well probably) she actually seemed to have enjoyed herself when Alec picked her up. She talked about Mr. Duncan and all the fun activities she had participated in. She even mention a couple of kids she had played with, making Alec sure he had make the right choice in sending her there.

On the second day, Alec officially went back to work, though only in a part time way, and was extremely surprised when Madzie came out of Idris looking completely crestfallen. “Did something happened?”

“Mr. Duncan is gone,” she explained sounding completely heartbroken.

“So your teacher is feeling well again?” Alec asked. “How is she?”

“She is okay, I guess,” Madzie grumbled. “She isn’t Mr. Duncan.”

Alec sighed, picking up Madzie so he could look her in the eyes. “Madz, I know change is scary but you shouldn’t close yourself to it,” he tried to explain, aware that it was something he had had to learn the hard way. “It’s not your teacher's fault Mr. Duncan isn’t there anymore and just because she isn’t him doesn’t mean she can’t be as nice as he is. Just give her a chance before you decide you dislike her, okay?” Madzie nodded but her sulk lasted all afternoon.

Nonetheless she seemed to have taken his advice to heart because she started talking about nice things the new teacher did, it weren’t the glowing praises she had dedicated to her former teacher but were enough to let Alec know she was making an effort. She did seem less excited about going there than she had before but never asked Alec to pull her out or complained about anything in particular, so the man didn’t know what had happened. It may have well been that the first day had been a fluke, after all, spending all the morning playing, reading and drawing away from parents sounded like a cool adventure and maybe the newness of the situation had made Madzie less focused in missing him that first day.

The day he picked up Madzie only to see her eyes red and puffy and her cheeks stained with tears he decided to stop speculating and to actually ask her what on earth was wrong. It took some coaxing in the form of frozen hot chocolate (a culinary marvel the girl had taught him) but in the end Madzie started speaking in the security of their home. "Someone said that you can't be my dad because we don't look the same, that I don't have a family," Madzie confessed and all the blood on Alec's veins started boiling.

"Who said that? Was it someone in daycare?" he asked, forcing himself to keep and even tone, Madzie nodded. "I can speak with your teacher and have them grounded." Not that it would do any good, if a child was sputtering that kind of bigotry then people in their home were telling them that that was okay and being scolded at school wouldn't change that.

"Was it true?" Madzie insisted looking very troubled.

"Of course not!" Alec answered a bit too loudly. He sighed, trying to find a way to explain to her that their little family wasn't all that weird nowadays. "Madz, you know Clary doesn't look like Captain Luke but that doesn't mean she isn't his daughter." It may have not been the best example since Madzie had not actually met Clary yet but Jace had showed her enough photos of both his girlfriend and his boss that the girl was more than familiarized with their looks.

"But you weren't my daddy before," she reminded him and suddenly Alec understood that a major part of all this was her being worried that one day he would stop being her dad as easily as he had started.

"And there was a time when it was just Jocelyn and Clary until Luke came along and he became part of their family too," he tried to explain but the girl shook her head so Alec decided to change tactics. "Who do I love more: Jace or Izzy?" he asked thinking that maybe a closer example would help her understand better. Madzie made an inquisitive noise. "It's not a trick question, Madz, who do you think I love more?"

Madzie was silent for a good couple of minutes, fidgeting with her sleeves. "Both?" she finally asked unsure if she had gotten it right.

"Yes, that’s right," Alec answered and Madzie perked up. "I love them both so much, they are both my siblings and I’d do anything for them." Madzie frowned still looking confused, not knowing where this was going. "I met Izzy when she was one day old, she was just a baby who cried a lot. I met Jace when he came to live with us at ten years old."

"Really?" Madzie had stopped fidgeting and was focusing all her attention on him.

"Really, Jace's first dad and mom weren't the same as mine. That's why we look so different even though Izzy and I look so alike. I didn't even know Jace until he was twice as old as you are," he explained to the wide eyed girl. "But that doesn't mean he isn't my brother. He is and I love him. And you looking different than me doesn't mean you aren't my daughter. Just because I didn't meet you as a baby, it doesn't mean I don't love you. You are my kid, no matter what people say, and that's never going to change. Okay?"

"You love me?" Madzie asked sounding extremely shy and so, so hopeful.

"Of course I do, you are my family," Alec reiterated and wasn't all that surprised when Madzie threw herself at his neck. "I take it that you love me too?" he teased hugging her back.

Madzie nodded. "You are my daddy," she affirmed and there wasn't an ounce of doubt in her voice.

"That I am. Are you sure you don't want me to talk to your teacher about this? She can make sure that kid doesn’t bother you again." Madzie shook her head but all her insecurities seemed to have left her so Alec decided to let it slide.

He regretted that decision two days later. It was the day of Madzie excursion to Pandemonium and Alec was working in his office. He yawned, Madzie had been so excited about her trip that she had woken up at five in the morning and demanded Alec read to her while they waited for the sun to come out. Not that Alec had minded being woken up by an adorably excited little girl jumping on his bed. And it had given him an excuse to make pancakes. All in all it had been a pretty great morning so he was in high spirits, if a bit tired, when his phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Alec?” a smooth voice asked over the phone and Alec sighed, hoping it wasn’t a salesman.

“Yeah, who am I speaking to?”

“Oh, I’m Magnus but that’s not important,” the man answered peaking Alec’s curiosity. “I’m at the Pandemonium hotel and, well, I have your daughter. Apparently, she got separated from her class and she refuses to go with them again.”

“Oh god.” Alec got up, searching for his jacket in frenzy. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, I’m so sorry. Can you put her on the phone?”

“Of course,” there were some muffled sounds on the other line.

“Daddy, I’m sorry.” Madzie sounded a bit distressed which fueled Alec to leave even faster, mouthing a ‘Madzie’ to Lydia as an explanation when he passed by her office.

“It’s okay, I’m coming for you, don’t leave the hotel, okay?” he told her as calmly as he could. “I’ll be there in five minutes, in the meantime please stay put somewhere where a lot of people can see you and do not leave with anyone, okay?” Madzie made an affirmative sound. “Perfect, can you put the grownup on the phone, please?”

“Yes?” came the same voice as before.

“I’ll be there in five minutes, could you please look after her until then?” he asked not too comfortable with leaving his daughter in a stranger’s care. But he really didn’t have a choice, and this stranger had called him instead of kidnapping her so…

“Of course, we’ll be at the reception area.” And with that Alec was on the street running in the direction of the hotel.

Magnus hung up the phone with a sigh. “Well then, Sweet Pea, looks like your daddy is coming to get you. Do you want to go sit there while we wait?” he pointed out the couches in the entry and Madzie nodded.

They sat down, the girl swinging her legs, too small to touch the ground, while Magnus watched her amused. They sat there in silence for some minutes, Madzie looking exceedingly worried. At first, when he had found her wandering around the corridors, he had assumed she’d gotten lost, he’d tried to speak to her but it wasn’t until he had offered to take her back with her class that she had answered him and it had been with an absolute no. So Magnus had asked her who she wanted him to contact and the answer had been her father, thank god the girl had the phone number memorized and written on the inside of her bracelet. “Sorry,” the girl’s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

“What for?” Magnus asked confused, trying to smile reassuringly.

“You have to wait for daddy with me,” she explained looking extremely guilty and focusing her gaze to the floor.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I was looking for an excuse to take a long break anyway, work is sooo boring,” he drawled dramatically making Madzie laugh, much to his delight. “Now I have the best excuse not to do it, so thank you.” He smiled kindly at her who answered with a smile of her own. “So what does your dad look like?”

“He is really tall,” Madzie explained quickly. Magnus waited to see if she was going to extend that description but the girl just nodded, satisfied.

“I see, is he as tall as I am?”

“Taller,” the girl protested frowning, apparently offended by the mere suggestion.

“Well, you are right then, he must be really tall.” Magnus teased, wondering how to ask her why she hated her class so much and if he had actually any right to make that question. He was just clearing his throat to speak when, suddenly, she got up, heading towards an admittedly tall and extremely gorgeous man.

“Daddy!” Madzie threw herself at his legs and Alec kneeled to hug her tightly.

“Madz, what happened?” Alec asked holding her away from him to check she was unharmed. She seemed fine, much to his relief, and was smiling openly which did not explain what had happened.

“I’m fine, daddy. Magnus found me,” the girl reassured him throwing a smile towards the man.

“Thank you so much for that,” Alec said to him, his voice full of emotion and his attention was still completely focused on the girl in front of him.

He was about to ask her why she had gotten separated of her class in the first place when an angry voice interrupted them. “There she is.” Madzie’s teacher was walking towards them and Alec did not like how that made her flinch and hide behind him. He got up, straightening his back and turning to confront the woman. “We’ve been worrying sick looking for you!” the teacher yelled at Madzie who tensed, trying to make herself smaller, and Alec’s frown deepened. He was about to tell the teacher not to ever scream to his daughter again when a voice interrupted him.

“That’s surprising.” The icy tone of Madzie’s savior surprised him. “Because I talked to the staff the moment I found her and made sure they knew to tell you she was okay.”

The teacher looked even angrier. “That’s not the point! It was selfish and inconsiderate of her to leave on her own. But well, what can you expect of that kind of children?”

“That kind of children?” Alec repeated slowly and Magnus was a brave man, but if that glare had been addressed to him he’d have probably started running for the hills.

“Yes, foster children. They are problematic, everyone knows that.” And apparently the teacher was even stupider than Magnus had given her credit for because she carried on ignoring the distinctively murderous (and hot) expression on the man's face. “Not having a family messes them up.”

Alec closed his fists and breathed deeply calming himself before turning towards Madzie. “When you told me someone had told you I wasn’t your real father were you referring to another kid?” and it was kind of magic how his face, voice and even posture softened when he addressed the scared looking girl. Madzie shook her head. “Was it her?” and when Madzie nodded the teacher scoffed.

“Well, she was going to find out sooner or later. I don’t believe in raising the kids with lies,” she explained rolling her eyes.

“That I am Madzie’s father is not a lie, I have legally adopted her. She is my daughter and the only problematic person here is you,” Alec basically growled making the teacher flinch. “You can inform the school that Madzie won’t be returning and that it’s all on you.”

“And please tell them that while I’ll be happy to have the kids on my hotel again, _you_ are no longer welcome,” Magnus added vindictively making a mental note to call the board and inform them himself in case she decided to keep that information to herself. The teacher’s mouth dropped open but the look on both Alec and Magnus’s face didn’t leave room for arguments so she scoffed again and turned around to go pick up the other children.

Alec sighed and dropped to his knees again, looking seriously at Madzie. “I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to spent a second with that woman let alone a week,” he apologized sounding extremely sincere. “Madz, why didn’t you tell me she was that mean?”

“Work makes you happy and you can't work if I'm home,” she answered timidly and Alec had to repress a curse.

“Not as happy as you being alright.” Alec told her as firmly as he could, he was not going to accept Madzie thinking that anything in this world was more important than her to him. “It’s my job to make sure you are okay so you have to tell me if someone is mean to you. And you can't go wandering alone you could have gotten hurt.”

“Magnus found me,” she protested clearly not seeing what the big problem was.

“And you were very lucky he did, someone else could have found you, someone even meaner than your teacher,” Alec explained and the frustration and anger he was feeling slipped into his tone involuntarily.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be bad.” Madzie looked miserable which was the last thing Alec wanted.

“Hey,” Alec said softly forcing her to raise her head to look at him. “You weren’t bad, you made a mistake. And you wanna know what the cool thing about mistakes is?” Madzie nodded. “Well, you can learn from them so you don’t do it again. Now, what did do you wrong?”

“I didn’t tell you about the nasty teacher,” she said quickly. Alec waited, patiently for her to continue. “And I left on my own.”

“And why were those things wrong?”

“Because I wasn’t okay and you couldn’t make it better,” Madzie answered to both situations after thinking for a minute.

“Exactly,” Alec told her with a smile. “And if you are in that situation again, what will you do?”

“I’ll tell you and stay put.” She nodded satisfied with her own answer and Alec let go a sigh of relief, knowing she would be true to her word.

“Perfect, see you are good _and_ smart,” Alec said and Madzie beamed proudly. “And really, thank you so much for helping her,” Alec said focusing on the girl’s savior for the first time. And shit… the man was beautiful. Alec couldn’t help but give him a once over, taking in his fashionable and glittery outfit and pausing a bit too long to appreciate what that shirt did for the man’s shoulders and biceps. He knew he was probably gaping but it didn't seem important at the moment.

The man snorted, clearly pleased with his staring. “You’re very welcome, dear.” Alec blushed at the endearment and he could practically hear Madzie wondering why he was acting so weird. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, I’m Magnus Bane.”

“Alexander… I mean Alec... Lightwood? Yeah, it’s Alec Lightwood,” he answered, cursing himself for all the stammering. “Wait, the Magnus Bane? The owner of this hotel?”

“Well yes, how else would I be able to ban that awful teacher from here?” Magnus asked raising an eyebrow. And that made perfect sense, Alec had just been too worried about Madzie to give it that much thought.

“Yeah, thank you for that you didn’t have to do it,” he told him not bothering to hide how pleased that had made him.

“Oh, I did. I grew up in the system. I won’t have someone calling me problematic in my own business.” Magnus frowned, indignation clear on both his tone and posture.

“Really? You are like me?” Madzie asked to him eyes open wide.

“I am,” and there was something in his tone that Alec liked because he wasn’t just okay with it, he was proud, and Alec wanted Madzie to have that same confidence. “Actually, I wasn’t as lucky as you are because I never got a dad,” Magnus smiled at him and his breath caught because apparently he was now a Victorian maiden, “but that didn’t stop me from getting all I wanted once I was older or creating my own family so don’t believe a word she said to you.” His tone was fierce and the girl nodded enthralled. Alec sighed, Magnus needed to stop being so nice to his daughter before he did something stupid like propose. “Can I tell you a secret?” Madzie nodded getting closer to him to listen better. “Being adopted means that not only do you have a dad who loves you but that he chose _you_ out of every other boy and girl in the world so don’t ever feel bad for it.”

She beamed at him. “I like your glitter,” she confessed shyly. And Alec knew that meant Madzie liked him, and boy was he fucked. “This hotel is really all yours?” she asked a bit in awe. Magnus nodded with a proud smile. “Can I go to the ball pool please? I couldn’t earlier.”

And before Alec could point out that was because she had escaped Magnus answered, “Yes, of course. As long as that’s okay with your dad.”

And maybe someday Alec would learn to say no to Madzie’s puppy eyes but it was clearly not today so he just sighed. “Fine, but in half an hour we have to go meet Jace, he was supposed to pick you up today and will get worried when they tell him you aren’t there,” he reminded her.

“Great, I’ll take you there.” Magnus looked almost as excited as Madzie and Alec couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.

He had to admit that the park was quite impressive, even if the number of children shrieking and running around made him have a headache. He sat near it anyway giving Madzie the green light and smiled seeing her ran towards the highest toboggan with determination.

“May I?” Magnus asked pointing at the seat by his side.

“Yeah!” Alec said too quickly and too loudly. “I mean, it’s your hotel, after all,” he winced, why could he never be smooth?

“That it is,” Magnus agreed amused, sitting with way too effortless elegance for Alec’s peace of mind.

“Thank you again for helping her. She doesn’t open up to a lot of people so you must have been really nice to her,” Alec told him and was that a blush on Magnus’ cheeks?

“You’re very welcome. She is a delight.”

“She is,” Alec easily agreed his eyes automatically searching for her. Now Madzie was happily playing on the balls pool, apparently already tired of the sledge, and her carefree smile was so different from the terrified expression she had been wearing just minutes before. “I can’t believe I let her spend a week in that teacher's care,” he groaned. “I’m supposed to shelter her from that kind of shit.”

“You didn’t know,” Magnus reassured him and at Alec’s unimpressed glare he decided to change the subject. “How long have you had her?"

"A little over a month." Alec let him distract him. "I'm raising her by myself and I admit I’m kind of still trying to get the hang of this parenting thing."

“Well, keep following your gut, Alexander," Magnus advised him with a wink and Alec knew there was a reason he usually disliked being called his full name but he just couldn’t remember what it was. "You seem to be doing great." Alec shook his head, snorting self-deprecatingly. "I mean it! Like I said, I grew up in foster care so I can say with some authority that she has hit the jackpot.”

And he was blushing again, great. “I don’t know about that. I just want her to be happy.”

“Exactly.” Magnus smiled warmly at him and... those couldn’t be butterflies, could they? He was an adult for Christ sake! “Look, some people are always going to say shit, the important thing is she has a support system that lets her know that’s bullshit. I mean can you believe someone once told me that my ‘unrooted childhood’ had been the cause of me being bisexual?” Magnus rolled his eyes. Had that been a totally innocent example or had he made it with some kind of hidden meaning? Alec couldn’t figure it out for the life of him. And he _really_ wanted to.

“My mother blamed my gayness at my close relation to my sister so yeah, I can,” Alec offered. If Magnus hadn't meant anything by that then his was another innocent example if he had... Anyway, it was only fair Alec shared too, right?

“So what do you do? Besides being super dad, I mean.” Magnus winked at him.

“I’m… a lawyer?” Alec really needed to stop getting distracted by his eyes, even if they were golden and green and so, so beautiful. “I mean, yeah, I’m a lawyer.”

“Wait, are you the Lightwood in Brandwell&Lightwood?” Magnus sat straighter suddenly serious.

“Yes, yes I am. Though I’m only working half-time right now.” Alec answered a bit worried by his reaction. The firm hadn't taken on any controversial cases lately, had it? Though the name Bane did sound familiar...

“Oh, Lydia’s been my lawyer for a couple of years! I can’t believe we've never met.” Magnus said pouting, he was feeling a bit betrayed by Lydia hiding the goods, they were supposed to be friends!

“Well, Lydia and I usually don’t have time to look into each other’s clients and we trust the other to handle them well,” he shrugged apologetically. “I hope you’re satisfied with our firm?” he added clearly misinterpreting Magnus' pout.

“Yes, of course, Lydia is a sweetheart and a lethal shark when needed.” Magnus smiled fondly. “I’m about to offer you something and please feel free to say no,” Alec nodded intrigued. “Well, the way I see it I’m a client of Brandwell&Lightwood so you technically work for me and Madzie needs a new childcare. I mean I’ll understand if after what happened in the past you don’t want to risk it again but if you agree she could come to ours.”

“That’s a pretty generous offer,” Alec commented a bit hesitant.

“And you don’t have to answer now. Here is my number. Call me whenever you want,” he said scribbling his personal one on his business card. “Oh, the other number is the one for my office. You can call them if you prefer.”

Alec frowned. “Why would I prefer to call them?”

“Well, I just didn’t want you thinking that I’m only offering you this because of how pretty you are.” Magnus shrugged unapologetically. “This way you have the option of getting Madzie in without ever talking to me at all if you prefer.”

“I didn’t… I’m not… You…” Why was talking suddenly so hard? Alec stopped, breathed deeply and tried again. “I’ll call _you,_ thanks again.” Magnus smiled and Alec gestured Madzie to come. She must have been feeling guilty still for running away because she didn’t protest and ran towards them. “Come on Madz, Jace is waiting for us. Say goodbye to Magnus.”

“Bye Magnus,” she said cheerfully. “Can I come again?”

“Of course, Sweet Pea.” Magnus promised. “As long as some adult is supervising you.”

Alec snorted causing Magnus to smile at him. “Come one, Madz, remember Jace promised to take you to the cinema today.”

“Will he buy me popcorn?” Madzie asked eagerly and Alec nodded amused, Jace was so weak when it came to say no to her. “And will he stay the night with us like last week?” It was an innocent question but Magnus face fell and that simply wouldn’t do.

“I don’t think so. He spent the next morning complaining about how uncomfortable the couch was. Ungrateful little brother,” Alec answered completely aware that he wasn’t sounding nearly as casual as he intended but not really minding since it caused Magnus to grin.

Madzie looked at him like he was crazy. “Jace didn’t complain because the couch is comfy.”

All color rushed to Alec’s face. “Well… I meant… I just…” Magnus was looking at him amused and Madzie was getting more and more confused. “We should go. I’ll call you, Magnus,” he promised before walking out of there as fast as he could with Madzie in his arms.

“Daddy, why are you acting so weird?” Madzie asked frowning.

“Because I got nervous,” he confessed, almost regretting his decision to raise Madzie with as much honesty as possible.

“Why? Don’t you like Magnus?” she asked still frowning.

“I do like him,” Alec reassured her and really that was the problem, wasn’t it?

“Good, he is very nice.” Madzie crossed her arms in front of her, daring Alec to contradict her.

“So you wouldn’t mind if we saw him again?” Alec asked, before cursing himself, he didn’t even know if that was something he was willing to pursue.

Madzie shook her head, a tiny smile gracing her lips. “I like him," she repeated with conviction. "But why were you nervous?”

Alec sighed, he should have known she would not let it go. “Sometimes I get nervous around beautiful men," and Magnus probably was the most beautiful man Alec had ever seen.

“But why?”

“Because I want him to like me.” The constants why’s may have been a bit annoying but they did make for good therapy.

“I think he did,” Madzie nodded and yeah, Alec thought so too which only made this situation more complicated. “There’s Jace,” she pointed out, conversation already forgotten now that her curiosity had been satisfied.

“Madzie, could you maybe not mention me acting weird around Magnus to him? Please," he said, suddenly dreading the teasing that guaranteed him.

He knew what Madzie's next question was before she opened her mouth.

"Why?"

“Because he will find it very funny and I won’t.” Jace was already coming towards them when Madzie nodded, causing Alec to relax a bit.

“Hey! I thought I was supposed to pick her up, did you miss her so much you couldn’t wait two more hours?” Jace asked teasingly, leaning to hug Madzie.

Madzie hug him back and cling to him forcing him to take her from Alec’s arms. “I ran away,” she confessed burying her head into Jace’s shoulders.

“Why would you do that? You were so excited to go. Not that I blame you, I would go too if they let me. Still think that the age limit is really unfair.” Jace pouted childishly.

“I’m sure Magnus would let you in if you ask him, he was really nice,” Madzie explained, patting Jace's hair consolingly and Alec sighed, well that had been fast.

“Magnus? Magnus Bane? You met him?” Jace asked confused, looking at Alec for confirmation.

“Yeah, she ran into him when she was wandering alone around the hotel. He is the one that called me to get her,” he explained as casually as he could. Maybe he could still dodge this bullet.

“And he told the nasty teacher that she couldn’t go to the hotel anymore because she was mean to me,” Madzie added a bit of hero-worship slipping in her tone.

“Wow, he seems really cool,” Jace told her smiling broadly. “So you and Alec made a new friend then?” Madzie nodded happily. “I’m sure Alec was beyond grateful he helped you, wasn’t he?”

“I can’t say that,” Madzie answered and Alec realized he was doomed.

“You can’t?”

“It’s a secret.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Jace asked and the light on his eyes told Alec that his fate had been sealed. “Madzie, do you think Magnus was pretty?”

“So pretty! He was all shiny and looked like a prince,” and yeah, Alec could not deny that Magnus had had some sort of royal elegance, a presence that commanded respect and attention… And maybe daydreaming about him in front of Jace was not the best idea.

“What about you Alec? Did _you_ think he was pretty?” he teased, winking at him.

“Far prettier than you, that’s for sure,” Alec grunted annoyed. “Now, Madzie wants you to take her to the movies and I have to go back to work. Bring her home before supper,” he ordered his brother. “Bye Madz, be a good little girl.” He kissed her forehead.

“Never thought you’d be the type to run away,” Jace called lightheartedly after him.

“I’m not, I’m just needed at the office,” Alec retorted and got out of there as fast as he could fully knowing that by the time they arrived at the cinema Jace would have already coaxed Madzie into tell him everything.

He arrived at the firm just under five minutes later and didn’t even pretend to do some work before heading towards Lydia’s office. “Is Madzie okay?” was the first thing Lydia said when she saw him. Alec smiled, he really was lucky to have her.

“Yeah but in need of a new daycare,” he said and then explained to Lydia what had happened.

“Wow, are you suing them?” she asked when he was done. “I’m sure we can find grounds for child mistreatment.”

“Well, at the very least I’m talking with the board and getting that teacher fired,” he answered. Maybe that would get Duncan a fix position? Although... “And Madz is not going back there ever again. I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if Magnus hadn’t found her.”

“Then don’t. She is fine, at the movies and probably eating her weight and Jace’s monthly wages in popcorn,” Lydia advised wisely. “Are you going to take Magnus’ offer?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. I mean he seemed great and he managed to make Madzie comfortable around him which is nothing short of magical but after what happened…” Alec shook his head. “You’ve known him for years, haven’t you? What is he like?”

“He is one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet,” Lydia told him resolute and Alec looked at her surprised, while he was expecting a good opinion he was taken aback by her vehemence. “In every case I’ve worked for him he has always tried to do the right thing, even if it meant losing some money. And him standing up for Madzie? That’s the sort of thing he does. He is one of the clients I’m proud to represent.”

Alec nodded. “Then I’m taking his offer,” he decided with a smile. “Madzie loved the place and if it’s lead by someone whose morals I approve of and who managed to make such an impression on you… Yeah, she is going.”

“Good,” Lydia nodded approvingly. “So what did you think of Magnus?”

“He seemed nice and was very kind to Madzie.” He smiled softly. “That didn't stop him for standing up to that teacher, though, and rightfully so. He is clearly smart, one does not accomplish what he has otherwise, but he wasn’t condescending towards me or Madz which I appreciated, too many people treat kids like they are dumb.”

“And he has such pretty eyes.”

“He has pretty everything.” Alec blushed realizing what he had just admitted. “Lydia!”

“What? I’ve known you long enough to know Magnus is exactly your type,” Lydia joked delighted. “And we are both aware that you had already decided on taking that offer the moment Magnus protected Madzie.”

“I did want to check,” Alec mumbled not convincing even himself.

“Oh, I know, but Magnus is the CEO, he isn’t in charge of the daycare so there should be no reason for Madzie to see him again and you could have checked the Downworld group policies online,” Lydia told him smugly and Alec had to admit, not out loud of course, that she was right. “So why else would you want to know how Magnus is? And like I said, he is so your type.”

“Well, if you knew he was my type why on earth did you not introduce us before?” Alec asked offended.

“Funny, he asked me the same question by text some minutes ago.” Lydia smirked holding her phone up teasingly. So much for her deducing everything.

“He did?” Alec perked up. “What did he say exactly?”

“I’m not telling you. Like I said to him, I’m a lawyer not a matchmaker and I won’t figuratively pass ‘Do you like me or not?’ notes between the two of you because: a, you are both adults, and smart ones at that, who can figure it out on your own and b, I’m pretty sure the answer is obvious.” Her smirk widened. “Now when are you going to ask him out?”

Alec bit his lip. “I’m not sure I can,” he informed her regretfully. “I mean I really want to but remember how Madzie reacted when she though you and I were going to marry?”

“Well, yeah, but people usually date first,” Lydia teased but stopped when she saw Alec’s face. “Alec, you know you don’t have to stop living until Madzie goes to college, right?”

“Of course I do, but you know me Lyds, I don’t do casual,” Alec reminded her. “And with Madzie… I can’t exactly do serious either because now serious means co-parenting.”

“You are overthinking things again,” Lydia told him kindly. “Maybe you should call Izz, she always manages to make you see reason.”

Alec shook his head. “She and Jace are coming over mine for dinner, I’ll talk to her then.”

He should have realized that after letting Jace spend all the afternoon with Madzie there was no way he could be the one bringing up the subject, least of all on his own terms. Izzy had been the first to arrive but Alec was too busy attempting to divert her from helping with the food to explain what had happened and then his daughter came and started explaining everything she had done during the afternoon, beaming and carefree, and Alec forgot he wanted to talk to Izzy at all.

“And uncle Jace promised to take me to the sequel too,” she finished a bit out of breath. Alec and Izzy’s eyebrows shot up while Jace couldn’t conceal his smile.

“Uncle Jace?” repeated Izzy and Alec had to admit he quite liked the sound of it.

Madzie nodded, “Jace and I have decided that I have to call him uncle so dad doesn’t have to lie to hot guys about how comfy the couch is.” All color rushed to Alec’s face.

“Is that so?” asked Izzy slowly, smirking towards Alec. “Does he do that often?”

Madzie shook his head. “Only today.”

“Yeah, he didn’t want Magnus Bane to get the wrong idea about our relationship,” Jace explained with delight.

“Magnus Bane?” Izzy asked and Alec shook his head, a ‘not yet’ that his sister understood. “Well, if you are calling Jace uncle then it’s only fair you call me auntie, don’t you think?”

Far later, once Madzie had already gone to sleep and Jace had gone back to his home, Izzy repeated her question. “Magnus Bane?”

“Yeah,” Alec sighed; they were sitting on the couch, facing each other and drinking hot chocolate. “I met him today and well, he makes an impression.”

“Did you make one too?” Izzy asked smiling knowingly.

“I hope so. I mean he did call me pretty and casually informed me he is bisexual so I think I did.” He hadn’t been imagining all the flirting, had he? “And he gave me his number. It’s so I can arrange Madzie’s transfer but he did also give me his office number in case I was uncomfortable with calling him directly so I think he wouldn’t mind if I used it for… private matters.”

“So, what’s the problem?” And really it said a lot about their relationship that Izzy could hear a 'but' without Alec even thinking it.

“The situation?” he tried, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean with Madzie and everything… She freaked out when she thought I was going to marry Lydia, don’t ask,” he warned his sister who snorted at the absurdity of the thought. “I just don’t think she is ready for more change. But she did say she likes Magnus and wouldn’t mind seeing him again so maybe… I don’t know, I really don’t know.” He shook his head. “What I do know is that I don’t want to lead him on, get us both invested and then have to call it off. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“So be honest with him,” Izzy said. “He knows you’ve got a kid and that she is recently adopted, if he is worth your time he’ll understand you’ve got to put her first.” Alec still looked doubtful. “Look, do you want to see him again?”

“Yeah, yeah I do,” Alec admitted because that part he was sure of.

“Then call him. You are overthinking it like always. It’s just a date not a marriage proposal,” she reminded him and that was practically the same Lydia had told him. If those two agreed at something then they were probably right. “Hell, for all you know that first date is going to be a disaster and you’ll end up hating him so you won’t even have to worry about Madzie’s reaction.”

“No, it won’t.” Alec hadn’t ever been surer of something in his life. “I don’t know how to explain it, we’ve only talked once but it was effortless and you know how I am with new people. It scares me a bit how easily we connected.” He chucked self-deprecatingly. “God I thought I was too old to have crushes.”

“Yeah, you are positively ancient,” said Izzy dryly, rolling her eyes. “Just call the guy, Alec.”

“I will, I mean is it too late to do it now?” he asked looking at the time. “Should I do it today? There was a rule about days, right?”

Izzy laughed at her brother clear distress. “The rule is if you want to call him, you call him. And it is late but I don’t think he’ll mind.”

It wasn’t until Izzy had left that Alec found himself staring at his phone, Magnus' number already marked. He really wanted to call but… But what? Izzy was right, worst case scenario the date didn’t work out, how was that better than no date at all? And if it did work out, then him, Magnus and Madzie would find a way to gradually adapt to each other. Or they wouldn’t but at least Alec would have tried. Hell, if all he got out of this phone call was Magnus calling him Alexander again then it would have been worth it. He pressed call.

“Hi, this is Alec,” he started, wincing at the awkwardness of his voice, “we’ve met today?”

 _“I remember you, Alexander, you are the hot single dad.”_ Magnus chuckled amused and Alec felt himself blush. He stammered not knowing how to answer. _“How’s Madzie?”_

“She’s fine,” Alec answered, grateful for the comfortable subject. “Happy she won’t have to go back to that teacher.”

 _“Have you decided to accept my offer?”_ Magnus asked friendlily _. “Is that why you’re calling?”_

“No, I mean yes I will accept your offer but that’s not why I am calling,” Alec rushed to explain. “I wouldn’t call you at eleven p.m. for work, I was going to do it tomorrow at a normal hour.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I shouldn’t have called you so late, I’m sorry, I can call you tomorrow.”

 _“Alexander,”_ was it possible to hear smiles over the phone? _“I’m happy you called.”_ Alec let out a sigh of relief that he hoped had been silent. “ _But I will admit that I’m curious as to why? If it’s not work related then I can only assume it's for personal reasons...”_ There was something teasing but also hopeful in Magnus’ tone that left Alec mouth dry.

“I… ehm… I was…” he tried, feeling his heartbeat pick up thanks to his anxiety, “I was wondering if you’d like to…” he cut himself abruptly. Shit, what did people do on first dates? And when did they do it? A movie seemed too impersonal, no time to speak to one another and Alec wanted to get to know Magnus. Was dinner too formal? Magnus did seem like a fancy guy. But Madzie didn’t sleep if he didn’t read her a chapter first and her bedtime was at eight. Maybe lunch then? Was that socially acceptable?

 _“Darling, you still there?”_ and now Magnus sounded worried, fantastic job Alec.

“Yeah, yeah,” he reassured him. “I’m just… Well to be honest I have no idea of what I’m doing,” he admitted. Then he sighed, people always said that communication and honesty were key to healthy relationships, right? And really, if he utterly humiliated himself he wouldn’t have to see Magnus ever again. “Look, I’m trying to ask you out but I haven’t done this since college so I don’t even know whatever dinner is a suitable first date?”

 _“Yes, it is suitable.”_ Magnus actually sounded fond and maybe even a tiny bit charmed? Or maybe Alec was just hearing what he wanted to hear. _“And I’d love to go out with you.”_

“That’s great.” Alec sighed relieved and a loopy smile took over his face. “When can we meet?”

 _“You tell me, you are the one with a kid. I’m assuming my schedule is far more flexible than yours.”_ Magnus laughed and Alec couldn’t help but smile. _“But maybe next week? I have already several appointments scheduled for this one.”_

“Of course, is Monday okay?” Alec winced, that had been too eager, hadn’t it?

Magnus didn’t seem to mind though, _“Monday is perfect.”_

“Great,” so what now? Should he hang up? It was late and he was going to call Magnus tomorrow to fix Madzie’s situation anyway… But he didn’t want to, he wanted to stay on the phone hearing Magnus’ deep voice and rough chuckles until morning came. God, if he had it this bad already he didn’t want to think about how would he be after the date. Or during.

 _“So, have you seen ‘Still Star-Crossed’?”_ Magnus randomly asked him. _“I need someone to complain about to with it being cancelled.”_

Alec smiled, maybe he wasn’t the only one hoping to keep the conversation going for a while longer. “I haven’t,” he answered truthfully. “I haven’t even heard of this series.”

 _“Yes, that’s the problem! They haven’t promoted it at all and now are surprised of the rantings!”_ he scoffed indignantly and Alec smiled, imagining him pouting. Was that something Magnus did? He really wanted to find out. _“Really, it’s so unfair.”_

“What is it about?” asked Alec readjusting himself more comfortably on the couch.

 _“It’s about what happens on Verona after Romeo and Juliet die. It’s full of politics and romance and mystery and the cast is so diverse and such sweethearts.”_ Magnus was rambling and Alec couldn’t help to find it adorable. _“It follows Rosaline and Benvolio who are forced to marry each other...”_

“By order of Prince Escalus,” Alec completed interrupting him, “who happens to be Rosaline’s ex.”

_“You said you haven’t seen it!”_

“I haven’t but I think I’ve read the book it’s based on.” Alec got up and went to the study, phone firmly on his ear trying to find said book.

 _“There’s a book?”_ Magnus squealed over the phone and Alec smile widened. _“Thank god! I thought I wouldn’t be able to see those two idiots actually being together.”_

Alec laughed, “Well, rest assured then. I can lend you the book whenever you want.”

 _“You truly are an angel.”_ Magnus sighed making him blush. _“But really, this got to be the worst cancellation in the history of television.”_

“I have one word for you: Sense8.”

_“You do have a point there.”_

They spent the following three hours on the phone talking about books and television and Madzie and their jobs and any subject that occurred to them and Alec realized that first dates weren’t really that complicated. They were all about learning about each other and in the end, it didn’t matter if they were in a cinema, in a restaurant or over the phone. Not that he wasn’t going to take Magnus out properly, of course. After all they had already agreed to it, right? Alec smiled, giddy; he had a date, an actual date with a smart, funny, gorgeous man. He really couldn’t wait till it was Monday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what did you think? Did you like it? How rude was that teacher? And how transparent is Alec? Do you think next's monday's date will go well? Tell me all your thoughts on the comment section please! Or leave me a kudo, pretty please? This chapter's 'idea' was date, anyone has any guess on what next's weeks idea will be? Like always I'll try to update on Friday, have a nice week!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Alec go on their first date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it's not really Friday yet but tomorrow I have my driver's exam so I didn't know if I'd be able to post it then. I hope you like it!

Alec spent the remainder of the week texting Magnus. He really wasn’t that big of a texter, hell if it wasn’t work related sometimes he forgot to reply to people and ended up having a crisis a week later doubting whether or not he should text back, even with the delay, or just ignore it and let them think he was a complete asshole. Magnus, however, had somehow managed to get him checking his phone every five minutes and the best part was: most times there actually was a new text from him. It was usually about things Magnus had seen and thought they were funny but there were also rants about people Alec didn’t know, nor wanted to in some cases, and recommendations about books or series Magnus thought he would like. Alec made sure to reply to every single message but stopped trying to make his answers as lengthy as Magnus’ texts because that way led to  madness. And awkwardness. Anyway, he was in excellent humor and, if Lydia’s, “Stop smiling like that, you’re freaking out the interns,” was anything to go by, it was quite obvious.

Madzie was also happy and, if her infinite stories were to be believed, extremely satisfied with her new daycare. She did miss a couple of the kids at Idris, but having been there less than two weeks she hadn't gotten too close to anyone in particular. Alec, who if nothing else always learned from his mistakes, had requested to meet with her teacher before sending her there and the good impression he had had of Elias was only reaffirmed by Madzie's daily morning excitement to go. This is why Alec was extremely surprised one morning when he went to wake her up and she refused to get up.

"Dad, I'm hot," Madzie moaned kicking up the covers. "And really sleepy, I don't wanna go."

Alec brushed her hair away from her face, amusement quickly giving way to worry. "You're burning," he said, pressing his lips to her rather sweaty forehead. "Yeah, you definitely have a fever. Does something hurt?"

"My head hurts a little," Madzie confessed. "Can I sleep a little longer?"

"Yes," Alec promised. "It looks like we are both staying home today but first let me take your temperature properly, okay?" Madzie nodded but when Alec got up to go fetch the thermometer she grabbed his arm. "I'll be back in a sec, I promise." When he got back Madzie was trying to get out of her pajamas. "Madz, stop."

"But I'm really hot," she moaned.

"I know but you are also really sweaty so you'll get really cold if you take that out," he explained. "Actually, maybe we should change you into a clean set."

"The one with the fishes?" Madzie asked when Alec was already opening the wardrobe.

"Okay." Alec helped Madzie get out of her dirty clothes and put on her fresh ones. "Okay," he repeated, "raise your arm."

"It's really cold," Madzie complained when the thermometer made contact with her skin.

"I know but we have to let it there for a couple of minutes, okay?" Alec said. Madzie closed her eyes and tried to squirm but Alec held her still. "Come on Madz, just let me do this and I'll let you go back to sleep."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." Alec’s gaze fell to the bed which was as filthy as Madzie's pajamas had been. "As soon as I change your bed." Madzie pouted and Alec sighed. "You know what? You can just sleep in mine."

"But it's not here," Madzie whimpered pressing her head against Alec's hip.

"I'll carry you there, don't worry." The thermometer pinged and Alec swore. "Okay, I have to call auntie Izzy, don't move."

"Don't leave."

"I won't," he said holding her hand while he dialed Izzy with the other.

"Hi, big bro," her sister sounded extremely chirpily which wasn't something Alec needed. "Calling me to ask for fashion advice?"

"No, Madzie's got a bit of a fever," he explained trying to keep his tone light as to not scare the girl. "And drowsiness and a bit of a headache."

"Sounds like a cold," Izzy said completely sober up, "How high is her fever?"

"100.4 degrees fahrenheit," Alec sighed. "If it was me I would just lie down and wait for it to pass but... I don't know, you are the one that went to medical school."

"You can give her some paracetamol," Izzy advised. "And let her sleep it off. Check her fever every hour or if you see she is getting worse. If it gets to 102.2 degrees make her take a some medicine to try and lower it and if it gets to 103.1 degrees call a doctor. And take her to one tomorrow if she still has a fever."

"Okay, I can do that." Alec nodded to himself. "Anything else?"

"Make sure she stays hydrated, it's probable she won't want to eat but it's important she drinks plenty fluids," Izzy told him, her composed voice helping Alec calm down a bit. "And make sure she is on clean, dry clothes. Her sweating it out is healthy but it won't help her with the chills if she is in wet clothes. And just because she feels hot don't let her be too exposed to the air. It is winter after all."

"Yeah, yeah." Alec nodded. "Okay, thanks."

"Another thing," Izzy's voice stopped him for ending the call. "I'll tell Lydia you aren't going to work today, so don't worry about that. And don't freak out, this is normal okay? As long as her fever doesn't get too high for too long, she is in no danger."

"I know," Alec sighed. "Thanks, Iz."

Alec relocated the girl into his room and read to her for a while until she fell asleep. Then he changed her bed and did a bit of laundry to make sure Madzie would have dry, clean clothes if she needed another change. He spent the morning watching over her, taking the opportunity to do some house chores he had been putting off. Much to his relief her fever stayed under safe parameters and while she turned around in the bed and woke up several times she seemed to be able to sleep. Alec was quietly reading by her side when the bell rang. Confused, he got up to open the door.

Magnus was on the other side, dressed to impress (or to kill Alec of a heart attack) and smiling broadly.

“Oh god, our date” Alec groaned, why did the universe hate him? This really wasn't fair. “I completely forgot. I’m such a moron. I’m sorry, Magnus, I’m so sorry”

Magnus made a weird face at that and his smile dimmed a bit. “Well, I'll admit it’s not the most flattering thing that’s ever happened to me but I suppose I can forgive you.”

“It’s not… you haven’t… Madzie is ill.” Alec finally managed to explain lowering his voice as to not to wake the girl, he stood aside gesturing for Magnus to come in. “I’ve been looking forward to this date all week but today she woke up with a burning high fever and I’ve been fighting it since then. I’m sorry I didn’t let you know before you got here, I’m not usually this inconsiderate. But it’s the first time she’s been ill since I got her and I may be a bit in over my head.” He shrugged self-deprecatingly, painfully aware that he had not yet taken a shower and that his hair and clothes were a mess.

“That’s okay, really." Magnus smiled at him and not for the first time that week Alec wondered how had he gotten so lucky. "Her well being is far more important than a date. Even one with me." He winked at him. "Do you want any help?”

“Oh, no, I can hardly ask you to help. Especially after forgetting our date," the younger man winced. "Again, I'm really sorry about that."

“You are not asking, I’m offering." Magnus told him sounding so earnest Alec forgot to immediately decline again. "I could make her soup while you look after her?”

“You sure?” Magnus sent him his most unimpressed look and Alec smiled, giving up. “Well, I’d appreciate that, I’m not too good of a cook myself.”

And somehow that made Magnus grin like it was Alec who was doing him a favour. “That’s settled then. Now point me towards the kitchen and go look after your daughter.”

Alec was too flabbergasted to do anything but obey while hesitatingly warning Magnus, "I don't know if I really have all the ingredients."

"That's okay, I saw a couple of stores on my way over. I could go get them," he offered.

And Alec wanted to protest but the alternative was to go himself and he really didn't want to leave Madzie. "If you are sure, there is money on the table and here, take this." He handed Magnus his house keys. "But you really don't need to do this."

"I'm pretty sure we've already established that I'm doing this because I want to." Magnus rolled his eyes at him.

Alec smiled at him but the sound coming from his bedroom quickly got his attention. "She's woken up, I should go to her," he said apologetically. Magnus nodded and headed towards the door when Alec's voice stopped him. “Oh, and Magnus?” Alec was already standing in front of his bedroom, he let his gaze sweep up and down Magnus' outfit. “You cleaned up really nicely.” With that he bolted into the room but not before he caught a glimpse of Magnus’ dazed, pleased expression.

Madzie blinked at the sudden light that bathed Alec's room when he opened the door. "Who were you talking to?"

"Magnus," Alec explained sitting by her side. "He and I were supposed to have lunch together and I forgot to tell him I couldn't today."

Madzie frowned at him. "That's not really nice."

Alec chuckled. "I know. But luckily he wasn't mad at me. He even offered to make you some soup."

Madzie buried her head into the pillow. "I'm not hungry."

"But soup is not food-food, I mean you don't even have to chew it," Alec explained turning her around. "Maybe you could take a shower before he gets back?" he offered, her fever had actually lowered but it couldn't hurt, and maybe feeling cleaner would help her. Madzie sighed, but raised her arms, beaconing Alec to carry her.

By the time they left the bathroom, after a long shower and Alec drying Madzie's hair as best he could as to prevent her getting cold, Magnus had already come back. "Hi." He smiled. "Perfect timing, the chicken is already brewing so I have about an hour before I have to add the vegetables."

And Alec knew he had to answer but his head didn't seem to be able to process anything other than the fact that Magnus, who was in his kitchen and cooking for his daughter, was wearing one of his old uni T-shirts. A T-shirt that had always been a bit baggy on Alec but hugged Magnus' arms just right. "Uh?" he eloquently asked.

"Oh!" Magnus seemed to notice his staring. "Sorry, I should have asked but you were in the bathroom with Madzie..." he started to apologize but Alec silenced with his hand.

"I don't mind at all," he quickly reassured him, changing Madzie's position to readjust the weight in his arms.

"I still should have checked first." Magnus looked sheepish. "It just that my clothes weren't exactly for cooking," he grimaced, making Madzie laugh. "And how are you feeling Sweet Pea?"

Okay, so Magnus was walking towards him still in his T-shirt. No big deal. He just wanted to check on Madzie, Madzie who was currently on Alec's arms. The girl let out a noncommittal sound breaking Alec out of his spiralling. "Time to go back to bed, I see. I'll wake you for the soup in a couple of hours."

Madzie shook her head, grasping Alec's shirt. "Couch," she demanded. "Read to me?"

Alec looked helplessly at Magnus who just shrugged. He sighed before sitting Madzie on the couch. "I'm going to go look for the book."

Magnus sat by Madzie's side. "What book are you reading?" he asked curiously.

"Harry Potter," answered Madzie with a drowsy smile.

"The first one?" Madzie shook her head showing him two fingers. "Ahhh, The Secret Chamber. I liked it well enough, though my favourite is the third one," he confided.

"I like The Order of the Phoenix better." Alec sat on Madzie's other side. "But I do admit The Prisoner has some very good parts." Madzie was frowning feeling a little left out so Alec quickly opened the book. "Where were we?" he asked despite the photography he had left to mark the place.

"They were going to Nick's party," Madzie told him with excitement on her voice for the first time since she had gotten up.

"Oh, I really like that part," Magnus told Madzie. "Can I stay and listen too?"

"No," Madzie answered and before Alec could say anything she proceeded. "You can help daddy do the voices. He really can't do them," she whispered.

"Can so," Alec told Magnus mock-glaring at Madzie. "But fine, Magnus can read the dialogue and I'll read the rest, okay?"

"Perfect." Magnus winked at the girl. "I'm really good at voices."

And he was. He knew how to make the characters sound bored, sad, and happy. How to pretend to be a teenager and an old teacher. His laments as Nick had Madzie and Alec laughing so much they had to interrupt the reading for five minutes and Madzie had tears in her eyes when Magnus perfectly intoned Filch’s agony over having her cat petrified. When Magnus had to get up to check on the soup Madzie turned towards Alec. "Can he come read with us every night?"

"I'm afraid not," Alec answered and the regret in his voice was not fake. "But if you ask nicely maybe he'll come some other day."

Madzie nodded but didn't add anything more since Magnus was already returning. "Okay, a little more and it'll be ready," he announced.

"Okay, but now read," Madzie demanded rushing Magnus to sit back down.

"Madz, that's not how we ask things," Alec reminded her.

"But I'm sick," Madzie whined only to be met with Alec's unyielding gaze. "Magnus, can you read to me, please?"

"Always, Sweet Pea."

By the time the soup was ready, they were already on Aragog's trail and Alec decided to stop, regardless of how much he wanted to hear Magnus' voice for the rendering of the enormous spider. Madzie sulked but agreed to be carried to the table and seated between the two men. Magnus presented them with bowls of steaming soup with poor disguised trepidation.

"This is good," Alec exclaimed the second he tried it, "like really, really good."

"Thank you, darling," Magnus smiled at him before turning towards Madzie. "Do you like it?"

The girl nodded, blowing the soup on her spoon before eating it. She seemed to be a bit down now that the excitement of the reading session had ended and Alec decided to put her in bed the second she ended the soup.

"Madzie, I'm wondering," started Magnus waiting until he had the girl's attention before continuing, "what house are you in?"

Madzie seemed really confused, "Daddy's?"

That answer made Magnus chuckle. "Sorry, I should have specified, I was still thinking of Harry Potter," he told her. "I mean which Hogwarts' house do you think you'd be in?"

"Gryffindor are the nice ones, right? And Slytherins are the bad ones, so Gryffindor," she answered, paining both men.

"That's not exactly like that, Madz," Alec corrected diplomatically. "You have to take in account that it's a Gryffindor who's telling the story so of course him and his friends will look like the nice ones." He rolled his eyes, thinking about a couple of people he would certainly sort into the lions. "All the houses have good and bad people."

"Yeah, Rowling could have written that better," commented Magnus. "Like in Avatar, there you can understand the fire nation."

"That's the cartoon, right?" Alec asked and the look Magnus send him made it clear that that had been a mistake.

"You haven't seen Avatar?" he asked dumbfounded. "Neither of you?" Madzie shook his head. "Well, next time I come here we are having a marathon. I won't stand for this deprivation ."

Madzie looked solemn, taking Magnus’ declaration seriously so Alec had no choice but to agree. "Fine. But let's not get sidetracked," he turned towards Madzie who still needed to be educated. "People who are brave and chivalrous go to Gryffindor, people who are smart and creative go to Ravenclaw, people who are hardworking and loyal in Hufflepuff, and people who are cunning and ambitious go to Slytherin."

"So you go to Hufflepuff, uncle Jace to Gryffindor and auntie Izzy to Ravenclaw?" Madzie asked frowning a bit.

"That's how I've always seen it," Alec nodded seriously. "And I'd put Lydia in Slytherin."

"But she is nice," Madzie reminded him.

"Some people in Slytherin are nice," Magnus told her. "I personally see myself in Ravenclaw."

"Really? I'd put you in Slytherin." Alec threw an appreciative look at Magnus.

"Let's just agree that I'd be hard to sort," Magnus flirted, winking at Alec. "Unlike you, who anyone can see is a badger, though you do have some smidgens of snake in you."

"I like Ravenclaw, I think," Madzie interrupted. "But I don't have to decide until I'm eleven, right?"

"That's right," Alec nodded. During their conversation they had all finished their meals so he stacked the plates. "I think you should go try to sleep a bit, now."

Madzie nodded, trying to resist a yawn. "Okay, but Magnus has to come read with us some day." Magnus nodded, smiling kindly at her. "And show us Avatar."

Alec chuckled, picking her up. "He will," he told her. "Now, say goodbye."

"Bye, Magnus." Madzie stifled another yawn on Alec's shoulders. "Thanks for reading with us."

Magnus smiled at her, getting up to gently caress her hair. "Thanks for letting me read with you," he countered. "And sweet dreams."

Alec carried Madzie to her bed, tucking her in and kissing her now far less hot forehead. When he returned to Magnus' side he had already changed back into his clothes. “Again, I’m really sorry about cancelling our date. This is really not how I’ve envisioned it going.”

Magnus smiled at him, sweet and private. “Don’t worry, darling, to tell you the truth I’ve had worse first dates.” Alec snorted. “I mean it! The company was delightful and, if I say so myself, the food quite delicious. And I got to know you better which was kind of the aim, wasn't it?”

He did have a point there, in a normal date Alec would have never learned how utterly brilliant Magnus was at storytelling. “Does that mean you want a second date? Because I really do.”

“I do too.” Magnus answer was almost a whisper, a confession that made Alec grin.

“Good.” He stood there, hands on his pockets, scrambling for something to say, some reason to delay Magnus leaving if only for a minute. “You know Madzie is going to hold you to that promise of showing her Avatar, right?”

“Well, I’m free this Friday evening if that works for the both of you. And this Wednesday maybe you and I can try to going out for lunch again?” Magnus offered and Alec was glad to know he wasn't the only one eager for them to meet again.

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll text you?” he offered ignoring the warmth in his stomach.

“You better.” Magnus opened the door to go out but Alec stopped him by grabbing his arm. He leaned in and kissed Magnus cheek sweetly before letting him go.

“Goodnight, Magnus,” he whispered, aware that he was blushing.

“Goodnight Alexander,” Magnus answered with a soft, awed smile before leaving closing the door after himself.

Well, all in all Magnus was right: it hadn’t been too bad of a first date, though Alec was kind of looking forward to the dates that didn’t include his daughter.

Alec did end up taking Madzie to a pediatrician the following day. The fever had almost disappeared but he needed the confirmation that it was just a cold and nothing serious. Izzy came with him for moral support and because Alec felt surer with a doctor by his side. Madzie, of course, was over the moon with her auntie's presence and spent the trip clinging to her and telling all the delights of Magnus' reading skills.

"That's amazing, Madzie," Izzy smiled at her. Then she bit her lip, a gesture Alec recognized as a nervous tic, before saying, "You know, this Wednesday I'm having a girls night at my house with Clary and Lydia, would you like to come as well?"

Madzie looked at Alec who squeezed her hand. "Can daddy come?"

"I'm afraid he can't." Izzy shook her head. "Big brothers are forbidden in girls nights. So you'd have to spend the night away from him, it's okay if you don't want to," she quickly reassured her.

"It's also okay if you want to go," Alec added seeing the question in the girl eyes. "I hear it's pretty fun. They watch movies, eat ice cream,  talk and play a lot of games."

"And we sometimes do makeovers, I could paint your nails," Izzy told her excitedly. "Or we could play videogames," Alec threw his sister a look, "which we would keep age appropriate." She rolled his eyes at him.

"Okay," Madzie said shyly. "I think I'd like that."

Alec wasn't ashamed of his behaviour. So maybe he had written a five pages long list of do's and don'ts and emailed it to all the girls, including Maia who Izzy had invited in the last moment (since when were those two friends?). And maybe he had gone over every article in the list in detail with Lydia during their breaks (well she was clearly the most responsible of the three he knew well enough to pester, not that he was pestering anyone, of course). Okay, maybe stealing all the ingredients out of Izzy's kitchen to ensure she wouldn't cook had been overdoing it a little (especially since one of the don'ts in his list was: DO NOT let her eat Izzy's food). So what if he had packed half Madzie's wardrobe and three quarters of her toys in a suitcase instead of making her an overnight bag? All of those were perfectly reasonable. Madzie was his kid and she was spending the night away from home for the first time, Alec wanted it to go well. Or at least to have her in danger free environment (maybe he should try, again, to convince Izzy not to invite Clary, that girl was a danger magnet). And no matter what Jace said he was not freaking out. He was a calm and collected adult and anyone suggesting otherwise was clearly lying.  "If at any point of the night you need me..."

"I'll tell Izzy to call you." Madzie actually rolled her eyes at him. "Don't worry dad, it'll be fine." She took his hand reassuringly.

"I should be the one telling you that," Alec noticed with amusement.

"You have," Madzie sighed. "A huuuuuundred times. Or more."

"I have been a bit neurotic, haven't I?" Alec chuckled. "Sorry, I just want to make sure you'll be okay."

"I know," Madzie said, gifting him with a brilliant smile. "But you have to have fun too."

Ales smiled back. "I will." That he did not doubt. He had changed his plans with Magnus from lunch to drinks and the part of him that wasn't over-thinking every detail of Madzie's sleepover was over-thinking every detail of his date. The thought of seeing Magnus again sent a fluttery feeling in his stomach and he had spend a good part of his lunch break fantasising about what the man would wear, how would his makeup look, if he would smile at Alec like he had on Monday...

They arrived at Isabelle's apartment a bit earlier than anticipated and a redhead opened the door. "Izzy is picking up Maia," she explained. "She's left me here to hold the fort."

"Madzie, meet Clary." Alec made a gesture between the two of them.

The girl fixed Clary with a look. "If you hurt Uncle Jace, daddy will be mad at you," she told her firmly before shaking her head. "He'll be  _ disappointed _ in you," she amended looking at Clary to see if she understood the gravity of the situation.

"Then it's a good thing I don't want to hurt him, isn't it?" Clary smiled at her, all brightness and friendliness. Madzie nodded, returning her smile before turning to pointedly look at Alec.

"Yeah, it is," Alec really tried to smile at Clary but he was pretty sure it came out as more of a grimace. "So I heard you have an exhibition soon."

"I do," Clary squinted her eyes at him. "I'm still a starving artist," she offered.

"You sell yourself short, you're really talented." This at least was the truth, as unpleasant as it was, and Alec had kind of admitted it already when he had asked to keep some sketches Clary had made of him and his siblings.

"Oh my god, is Jace going to break up with me?" Clary sounded horrified, her smile completely gone and fixed her scared (and oh god where those tears?) eyes at Alec.

"No! Why would you think that?" Alec asked confused, Jace had told him that they were going strong, hadn't he?

"You are being nice to me!" Clary accused, stabbing him in the chest with her finger. "And I assume if a relative of mine was dead or ill I would know before you."

"I suppose so," Alec agreed, still puzzled.

"So I can't think of another reason why you'd be nice to me." She did had a point, Alec thought begrudgingly, the last time Alec had been nice to her had been after her mother’s death. "Unless you have brain damage?" and now she sounded panicked. "You can't have brain damage, Jace and Izzy need you to function. And think of Madzie!"

Alec decided that, as amusing as this was, maybe he should stop her spiralling before she gave herself a stroke. "I'm fine. Madzie and I just decided that we have to be nice to people who haven't done anything bad to us." He fixed Clary with a glare trying to transmit that this was Important Parenting TM .

"Well that is correct," at least Clary caught up fast enough, "but you don't have to if the other person give you permission not to. And honestly our relationship is far less confusing when you are not." Alec most definitely did not sigh in relief. "And far more fun."

Madzie hummed her understanding and Alec decided to take that as his green light. “So Madz, remember what I told you last night? This is a clear example: I ate my vegetables, Clary did not,” he explained watching Clary’s protest with mirth. “That’s why now I can use her as a resting place for my arm.” He rested his forearm onto Clary’s hair, wincing in pain when she elbowed him in his stomach. “You don’t want to end up as someone’s arm resting place, do you?”

Madzie shook her head, her eyes opened wide.

“What’s happening here?” a voice interrupted them.

“Uncle Jace!” Madzie jumped into him and they both forgot the other two.

“You are so full of shit Lightwood,” Clary mock grunted, trying to elbow him again. “I’m not that short.”

“You are going to have to speak louder, Fray, I can’t hear you from so far away,” Alec answered, still resting against his arm over her head.

“I hope it’s extremely cold up there,” the girl answered trying to shake him away.

“Well, the air is cleaner here, far less smell of feet,” retorted Alec smirking.

“Feet?” Simon was at the door looking disturbed by the topic of conversation. “Why are we talking about feet?”

“We can talk about jellyfish instead,” offered Clary eyes shining maliciously, Simon paled and Alec guessed there was a story there. One that, for once, he was interested in.

“Yeah!” Madzie agreed. “Do you know they have no brain?”

"It's like this two then," Alec pointed out gleefully.

Madzie frowned at him. "You don't have his permission to be rude to him."

Alec shrugged. "He doesn't mind, do you?" he crossed his arms looking as threateningly as possible and glaring the other man down.

"No?" Simon tried looking at Clary. The girl nodded at him making Simon relax a bit. "Anyway, how are you Madzie? Do you remember me? I'm Simon! I was the one in the coffee shop." He winced realizing that reminding the little girl of the place she had been abandoned in was not a good idea. Or because of Alec’s death glare.

Madzie nodded, "You gave us cookies."

"That I did." Simon was beaming at that. "And I'm bringing a karaoke machine for you girls at movie night." He pointed at the bags he had left near the door.

"I brought a pouf just for you Madzie," Jace told her, not one to be out done.

"And now you are both leaving." Izzy had arrived with Maia in tow. "I'll count to five and when I'm done there won't be any men in my apartment." Jace and Simon both grunted something pretty similar to ungrateful but were unwilling to speak loud enough for her to hear.

"I was hoping I could stay until Lydia got here," Alec tried but his sister crossed her arms, daring him to elaborate on that. "But that's okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Madz. Remember..."

"To call you if I want to at any point in the night," the girl finished for him. "I know, dad."

Alec snorted before kissing her forehead and dragging Jace and Simon out of the apartment before they irritated any of the girls.

"So big date tonight, uh?" Simon asked. Alec only glared at him. This was literally the second time he saw this man, in which dimension was it alright for him to even know about his personal life, let alone inquire after it?

"Forgive my brother, he is nervous," intervened Cain.

"I'm not nervous, Jace, just private." Alec glared at his brother. "And late so if you're done gossiping I need to get to my apartment."

He was already half down the street when he heard Jace yelling, "wear your leather jacket."

Alec did not take his advice, he most definitely did not. It's just, he was already planning on wearing it and it would've been childish to change his outfit just to spite Jace. God, if there was something he hated, it was people telling him to do things he was already going to do. It was useless and the credit went to them, robbing him of the initiative. Of course all thoughts of Jace disappeared when he arrived at the Hunter's Moon, the bar he had agreed to meet with Magnus. He stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath, there was no reason to be nervous, it was ten minutes early so Magnus would probably not be here yet, he'd get in, walk to the bar and ask for something with alcohol in it to sooth his nerves. He nodded and opened the door, freezing halfway inside. Sitting in a high stool in front of him was Magnus, looking even better than he had for their failed date.

"Alexander!" Of course Magnus had already spotted him. If he moved now he could probably avoid looking like an idiot.

"Hi." He smiled at the man, sitting by his side. "You're early."

"So are you," Magnus pointed out. "I finished changing earlier than I thought and decided that instead of sitting at home watching the minutes tick on the clock I could just do it on the bar."

"Then I'm glad I didn't make you wait too long," Alec told him with a smile. "Izzy banished me from her home the second I dropped Madzie off."

"Well, that's just cruel," Magnus joked gesturing the bartender to come attend them. He asked for (another) martini and Alec imitated him. He hadn't drank since college, didn't really see the point to it, but they couldn't be too bad, could they? "This is the first time she spends the night away from you, isn't it? Must be hard."

"Yeah," Alec nodded. "But it helps that she’s staying with my sister and Lydia. And Maia, who happens to be a social worker. They should be able to take care of her, even with Clary there."

Magnus made a humming sound. "Clary?" he asked. Alec was a bit surprised that she hadn't come up in their eternal text conversations, especially with how often he talked about his siblings.

"My brother's girlfriend, she isn't too bad," he explained making sure his expression was longsuffering. "But she has a knack of creating problems wherever she goes and she is kind of the most reckless person I know, including Jace. Wouldn't be my first choice as a babysitter, even though I know her heart is in the right place." Alec shook his head. "Madzie will have a blast drawing with her, though, she is an artist just like her mother."

Magnus looked up at that. "Don't tell me you're talking about Clary Fray, I couldn't take the betrayal."

Alec laughed. "I am," how many acquaintances did they have in common? "though betrayal doesn't seem her style."

"That's what I thought too," Magnus sighed dramatically, "until I found out she knew the most gorgeous man in New York and hadn't introduced us."

The younger man ducked his head, aware that he was blushing. "Pretty sure that's my line."

"And a charmer too, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her." He winked at him before sipping his drink. "Wait, does that make you Jace's scary big brother? Should have made the connection, it's not like Jace is such a common name. Do you have any idea how nervous she was of meeting you?"

"That be me, yeah." Alec smiled, looking extremely pleased with himself. "Have to look out for my siblings, you know?"

Magnus laughed. "They sure are lucky to have you," he told Alec. "And I'm sure your parents are grateful for the help."

Alec froze, awkwardly staying silent. It wasn't that hard, all he had to do was mention that his parents didn't care that much in a firm enough tone that Magnus would drop the subject. He took a sip of his way too charged martini, wincing at the taste of alcohol. "This is good." He pointed at the drink.

Magnus ignored his pathetic attempt on changing the subject. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No!" Alec cut him off too loudly, "I mean, it's okay. You couldn't have known," he amended. "I don't have the best relationship with my parents, that's all."

"Can I ask you why?"

Usually Alec would have refused but Magnus seemed genuinely interested and there was no pity in his gaze so Alec nodded. "My father had an affair," he started, and that was the easy part. "He ended up moving to Europe with his new wife. He still calls sometimes and I've seen him once or twice but, well, our relationship has been... strained ever since. Same with my siblings though maybe not as much, I was always closer to my mother."

Magnus nodded in understanding. "A girlfriend of mine cheated on me, pretty sure it was constantly over our three years long relationship so I know it's not pleasant," he offered. How could anyone have Magnus and look for someone else on the side, Alec would never known. "But it can be a blessing in disguise. It was for me."

"It wasn't for her," he answered sadly. "She only focused even more on her work and forgot everything else. Became even more intransigent about things she thought weren't right."

"Like you being gay?" Magnus asked. Alec looked at him in surprise. "You mentioned she blamed it on your sister so I just assumed..."

"Yes. No. I mean kind of," he gestured around with his hand trying to show it was more complicated than that. "My mother, and to a lesser extend my father, decided a long time ago what type of life my siblings and I were going to have. As the oldest I was to follow them into law and then let them decide between me becoming a judge, like her, or a politician. My siblings had a bit more of freedom, they could choose their respective fields as long as they chose something prestigious."

"I'm assuming cop and pathologist don't count?" Magnus commented, and Alec wondered if he was asking about his siblings to give him a bit of breathing room.

He shook his head. "Nah, mom was over the moon about Izzy going into medicine but tried to pressure her into choosing neurology or something like that. It got to the point of telling her that she was wasting her potential and because of that, people who could have been saved would die." Magnus looked at him horrified. "Yeah, they don't talk anymore, either."

"Well, that doesn't surprise me." He shook his head. "Can't imagine her reaction at Jace's chosen career."

"It was far milder. Jace is adopted so he was never expected to 'carry on the Lightwood name'. She wasn't pleased and made sure to introduce him to some 'very nice people' in the FBI but Jace doesn't let people make him do things he doesn't want to do." Alec shrugged, leaving out everything that had happened during the Valentine debacle, he was already going over the quote of family drama stories allowed on first dates.

"What about you?" Magnus asked tentatively.

"I was a good little soldier," Alec said with a dry, humorous tone. "I went into law, I did everything they wanted and stayed in the closet until I was in college." He felt Magnus’ hand rest over his and smiled at him. "But it came to a point where I just stopped giving a fuck. Nothing I did was ever going to be good enough so why even try? I came out to them on my freshmen year and while they didn't like it, they could tolerate it as long as I dated boring, rich, white snobs who happened to be sons of their friends."

Magnus wrinkled his nose. "Well then, I'm afraid that they would most certainly disapprove of me."

"You don't have to worry about that," Alec reassured him before continuing his story. "They got me an interview in a law firm right after college. Are you familiar with Clave & Associates?" The disgust in his date's face told him that he was indeed. "Yeah. They both had worked there and had a very good relationship with its senior partners. I started there as did Lydia and we both hated it, but it was a job. The most evil brands were represented by the seniors so we made do. That is until they asked us to represent Valentine Morgenstern."

"The bigoted serial killer?" Magnus’ gaze had turned stone-hard and Alec understood that this probably hit Magnus closer than most other people, if only because he fit Valentine's victims' profile perfectly.

"The terrorist," Alec nodded, using the term the press had shied away from. "And even if I hadn't had personal reasons to despise the man," he really hoped that Magnus would assume those personal reasons were Clary and her mother, "I was not about to help him so Lyds and I started our own firm, 'stealing' their clients away."

"That was very brave of you," Magnus noted, and Alec perked up at the clear admiration on his date's eyes. "And extremely beneficial to me."

"Well, my mother didn't think so. When she found out..." Alec sighed. "Let's just say that the words: traitor, honour, family and shame were thrown around and she told me in no uncertain terms to choose between my new firm or her." Or more accurately between who he was and his beliefs or who she wanted him to be. "I told her to call me when she was ready to accept me for who I was, haven't heard from her ever since."

"I'm sorry, Alec." Magnus looked sad and this was so not how Alec had wanted this date to go.

"That's okay, it was a long time ago." He got up, abandoning half of his drink. "Do you play pool?" he asked trying to lighten up the mood.

"A bit."

Apparently 'a bit' meant well enough to utterly destroy him. Who knew? Though to be fair, if Alec hadn't thrown that one shot (Magnus had been pouting at him! What was he supposed to do?) the result would have been far more tied. Either way it worked, the gloomy air Alec had unintentionally cast over their evening vanished and left them with a, far more appropriate, playful and competitive atmosphere. Alec should have known that a business mogul would dislike losing as much as he did. But after his totally unfair victory at pool, Alec thought Magnus needed some humbling so he proposed darts.

"You’re good at this too," he was forced to admit, sounding a bit more accusative than he had intended.

"You still won," Magnus reminded him.

"Barely," he sulked, so maybe he had wanted to show off a bit, that wasn't a crime! Unlike Magnus’ apparent ability to succeed at everything and looking devastating while doing so.

"You get your prize anyway," Magnus told him. Alec looked at him in confusion that turned into delight when he felt Magnus' lips fleetingly touch his. "There." And he looked almost unsure, his face open and vulnerable.

"Well, now I feel awful," Alec couldn't resist to tease. "I didn't give you yours after your victory at pool." And he leaned in. His kiss was longer and harder than Magnus' had been but the other man didn't seem to care. His arms circled Alec's waist holding him closer.

The moment they pulled apart Magnus whispered against his lips, "I'm not sure that victory should count. I did hustle you after all." He smirked. "Maybe I should give the prize back."

Alec was about to agree when his phone rang. He was half-decided to ignore it when he saw it was his sister. "Is Madzie okay?"

"Relax," she answered and Alec could hear her rolling her eyes. "She is perfectly healthy and having a great time." That relaxed him a bit. "I don't think you could convince her to leave even if you tried, Clary promised her pancakes in the morning."

"Then why are you interrupting my date?" he demanded, impatient to get back to it.

"So I take it's going well?" Izzy sounded thrilled and Alec allowed himself a smile.

"Very," he answered, looking at Magnus who smiled back. "Until someone decided to interrupt us for some still unknown reason."

"Well, your daughter refuses to go to sleep unless you come and read to her and since we have an  _ extremely _ useful list that says: DO NOT let her stay up for over two hours after her usual bedtime..." Izzy trailed off, a note of recrimination on her voice.

"Oh, of course, I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Alec hung up without saying goodbye, feeling petty over having to interrupt his date and turned towards Magnus who was trying not to look disappointed. "Apparently Madzie refuses to sleep without a bedtime story," he explained apologetically.

“That’s okay, I understand,” Magnus said and smiled, making sure Alec believed him. “She is your daughter, of course she comes first.”

“I’m really sorry,” Alec apologized with a sigh. “On the up side, she is really having fun and Clary has promised her pancakes for breakfast so I’ll probably be off the hook till morning, if you don’t mind waiting?” he ended hopefully.

“Till morning uh?” Magnus repeated raising an eyebrow.

Alec blushed. “I just meant… If you wanted to go for a drink…” his eyes felt onto Magnus' empty glass. “Another drink, that’s it. I wasn’t implying...”

Magnus shushed him placing a finger in front of his lips without touching him. “I’d love to go for another drink with you.”

“Great.” Alec was aware he was smiling like an idiot but he couldn’t find it on himself to care. “Yeah, I should go read to her,” he said making no movement to leave.

“Do you want me to come with you?” offered Magnus amused.

“I’d like that, if you don’t mind.” Alec shy smile grew into a full out grin when Magnus took his hand and lead him into the street, the air was freezing but Alec felt warmth spread through him through their joined hands. They walked in silence for a while until Alec’s face fell remembering something. “Magnus about Madzie…” he started not even knowing what he wanted to say. Magnus raised an eyebrow gesturing him to go on. “Before Ragnor’s trial," who, Alec had found out in one of their texting conversations, had chosen their firm thanks to Magnus' recommendation, "Lydia stayed a lot at mine because we were working on it and Madzie assumed we were together. I told her we weren’t,” he quickly clarified seeing Magnus’ face. “But while she thought so she was downright hostile towards Lydia.”

Magnus’ face softened with understanding. “That’s understandable, after what’s she’s gone through it’s normal she is clinging to her new situation and afraid of change.”

“She will have to get used to change one day,” Alec commented a bit worriedly. “But yeah, I just thought that you should know that if we tell her we are together she may stop liking you for a while.”

“ _ If _ we tell her?” Magnus sounded hurt and that was the last thing Alec wanted.

“That’s completely up to you,” Alec clarified squeezing his hand. Magnus’ rings bit into his palm and he had to contain a smile. “If she asks I won’t lie because that’s not how I’m raising her. But if you wanted, we could just not have that conversation with her yet. Maybe it will be easier for her to accept us once she’s seen that you being in our life doesn’t mean I love her any less . ”

Magnus nodded slowly. “That does make sense and it’s not like we would be hiding, right?”

“Of course not,” Alec answered with a smile, the mere idea was ridiculous, who on their right minds would hide being chosen by Magnus Bane? “Just maybe no kisses in front of her? Or we could just tell her, that’s alright too, whatever you’d prefer.”

“I suppose I can refrain myself. It will be difficult though.” Magnus sighed playfully.

“Would it be easier if I promise to make sure I kiss you once for every hour we waste?” Alec offered grinning.

“It’d be a start,” Magnus allowed flirty, his eyes moving up and down Alec’s body.

“You’re sure you are okay with it, right?” Alec asked still a bit worried. “Because I can handle Madzie being moody, it won’t be nice but it won’t make me break up with you.” Alec couldn’t imagine anything making him break up with Magnus but maybe it was a bit too soon to say that out loud.

“I know,” Magnus reassured him. “But I do enjoy Madzie’s company, I’d be loathed to lose it if I don’t have to.”

"Okay," Alec nodded. He stopped in front of a building. "This is my sister's place, she is usually quite nice but can be a bit too enthusiastic about me getting a social life. And Lydia has known me for far too long. And well, you know Clary. They will probably assault us as soon as we enter, please don't judge me too harshly for it?"

"I would never," Magnus winked at him cheekily before adding, "just out of curiosity, if one wanted to learn embarrassing stories about your past, who'd be the person to ask? Lydia or Isabelle?"

"Jace, who luckily won't be there."

Maia was the one to open the door and, while Alec was pleased at his lack of comments, her knowing smirk was kind of annoying.

"So you are the guy that's managed to get my brother to answer his texts," Izzy's ominous voice came from their right and Alec sighed.

"Do not harass him," he ordered as firmly as he could, aware that it wouldn't dissuade her.

"I would never harass a guy with that much fashion sense," she pointed out. "I'm sorry your outfit is lost on my brother, it's quite spectacular."

"It isn't lost on me," Alec protested. "I don't need to know the name of the designer to know he looks stunning."

"Why, thank you darling," Magnus chuckled and Alec blushed realizing what his wicked, wicked sister had made him say. Then he realized he didn't really care.

"Don't thank me, I'm just pointing out the fact that you are gorgeous." Magnus laughed again, clearly charmed, and Alec smiled at Izzy smugly.

"And Jace said you couldn't be smooth to save your life," Clary said, because of course they were all listening in. Well, all except Lydia who, Alec assumed, was trying to keep Madzie in bed.

He was still sputtering when Magnus answered, "Well, Jace clearly doesn't know his brother all that well. And you don't seem that surprised to see me which makes me think that the deeps of your betrayal are deeper than I thought."

Clary just shrugged. "I did tell you that I wanted to introduce you to Jace's family but Mister Powerful CEO didn't have time in his oh so busy schedule. You have only yourself to blame, really."

Magnus tutted at her. "And to think I used to let you stay up after your bedtime."

"Speaking of which, where is my daughter?" Alec demanded, trying to get the conversation back on its tracks.

"She is in my guest room, obviously." Izzy rolled her eyes at him. "Go read to her, we'll keep Magnus company."

"Madzie likes it when he does the voices," Alec attempted.

"My house, my rules, dear brother." Alec looked at Magnus helplessly but the man just shrugged.

"Go, I'll be fine." He winked and Alec threw his sister a last warning glare before accepting defeat.

Madzie smiled when she saw him, her were eyes almost already dropping and she was keeping herself awake by sheer force of will. Alec could see a mug of Lydia's miraculous beverage on the table and realized that they wouldn't get to finish even a chapter. Lydia patted his arm sympathetically and headed towards the others, who, Alec could hear, were already laughing, a sound far scarier than screams would have been. He sighed and sat by Madzie's side, talking to her and asking about her night while she fell deeper and deeper into slumber. When she finally stopped answering to him Alec kissed her forehead, adjusted her covers and headed to save his date.

Magnus didn't look like he needed saving, he was listening with rapt attention to something Lydia was sharing with them and when Alec heard the word 'kittens' he all but yanked Magnus away from there. "Did Madzie enjoy her story?" Izzy asked, clearly trying to buy Lydia more time to embarrass him.

"She was too tired for reading, I just talked to her," Alec replied. "And we should leave, I did promise Magnus another drink."

Magnus smiled. "Indeed, you did."

Alec woke up under silky, unfamiliar sheets, with an arm around his waist and couldn’t help but smile. He carefully turned around making sure he didn’t dislodge Magnus’ arm and stared at the other man. His breathing was steady but when Alec tenderly caressed a stray of hair away from his face he smiled. “Good morning.”

“Best I’ve had in a long time,” Alec agreed deciding to risk the morning breath and press a caste kiss on Magnus’ lips. “How do you look so good in the morning?” he blurted out fully aware that his hair was sticking out in every direction. Which was mostly Magnus' fault anyway.

The other man smiled, pleased. “I’ll tell you if you tell me how you make snoring seem adorable instead of annoying.”

“I don’t snore!” Alec was offended, though not enough to refuse Magnus another kiss.

“So much for not being implying anything when you told me you were free until the morning.” Magnus jabbed a finger on his side playfully.

“You’re the one that suggested drinks at your apartment,” reminded him Alec. Not that he was complaining. And truth be told they had actually had drinks together before he had decided that Magnus was way too gorgeous when he was laughing for Alec not to kiss. So yeah, maybe it had actually been his fault. Though Magnus had been the one to suggest they move it to the bedroom once their make out session on the couch had become too hot and heavy. Whatever, they could share the blame, it wasn’t like either of them regretted it anyway.

“When do you have to leave?” asked Magnus using the arm he still had around Alec to pull him flush against his body.

“I should pick Madzie up around ten,” it was _really_ hard to think when Magnus was nuzzling his neck, “so maybe nine?” He tilted his head to give Magnus better access. “So I have time to go to mine to shower and change.”

“I have a shower,” Magnus pointed out extremely rationally before giving in and kissing Alec’s neck.

“Mmh…” Alec’s hand settled on Magnus’ shoulders, feeling the muscles and bringing him impossibly closer. “Nine and a half then?” His hand slid down to grab Magnus’ ass. “A quarter to ten.”

“That’s almost two hours from now,” noticed Magnus his eyes shining mischievously and impossibly attractively, “let’s just spend them here.”

“Okay,” Alec agreed, kissing Magnus deeply. “Wait, no!” His sudden, loud refusal made Magnus freeze, his hands stopping mapping Alec’s body. “I mean, I’d love to but it’s just… I don’t want our first night together to end with me leaving as soon as we get up?” And now that he was saying it out loud, it sounded stupid, especially since Magnus’ hands weren’t back on him. “I just don’t want any of it to feel like a one nightstand. Not that I could ever think of you as... anything less than remarkable. But I’d like to make you breakfast?” He could actually see his own blush making its way down his chest but he braved a look at Magnus and, wow, he was looking at him with the softest expression Alec had ever seen, a tiny, awed smile gracing his lips.

“What if we make breakfast together?” he offered sounding almost shy. All the lust was gone from his eyes but Alec couldn’t regret it, not when Magnus was looking at him with such tenderness. “I mean considering that I don’t think you even know where the kitchen is…” he trailed off amusement in his eyes which were still bright with happiness.

“Yeah, that… that be great.” He got up from the bed reluctantly before searching for his clothes, he found his jeans near the door but his shirt seemed lost. He shrugged, it wasn’t like Magnus hadn’t seen him with less. The man in question seemed to appreciate his decision to go shirtless though so Alec smiled. Or tried to, he may have been a bit distracted looking at the royal blue robe Magnus had decided to attack him with. 

“Come on,” Magnus caught his hand, leading him to the kitchen.

The first thing Alec noticed was the monster coffee machine in the counter and was immediately grateful he hadn’t been left alone to slay it. Meanwhile Magnus was busy opening cupboards. “So,” he started sheepishly. “How do you feel about toast? I don’t usually have breakfast at home and I don’t think I even have cereals...”

“I was craving toast anyway,” answered Alec with a smile. “I can make them if you take care of the coffee?”

"Team work, I like it." Magnus kissed him softly before turning towards the coffee machine.

The next hours were pure bliss and not just because Magnus' coffee was out of this world. This domesticity, similar to the one Madzie had given back to him, was something Alec craved like air. Deep down, or not so deep if his siblings teasing remarks were anything to go by, Alec was a family guy. This, having breakfast with a gorgeous man after waking up by his side, was as close as paradise as it got, at least in his opinion. Or it would be if his daughter was here and he had the certainty that Magnus would be with them every morning after. Still, it was pretty damn good. His happiness lasted up until the moment they went back to the room to get dressed.

"What's wrong?" Magnus asked after Alec had spent several minutes staring at his recently found clothes.

"Nothing's wrong," Alec reassured him. "I just remembered why I wanted to go to my place before picking up Madz." He gestured at his shirt. "There's no way Izzy is not going to realize I'm wearing yesterday's clothes."

"I could lend you some if you want," Magnus offered, looking way too smug to be sympathetic.

"That would only give her more ammunition. We don't exactly have the same style." Alec shook his head. "Also they'd be a bit too loose on me, I don't have your arms and shoulders." He let his gaze caress the alluded parts trying not to remember how they had felt under his hands the night before.

"Well then, I guess you'll just have to endure her teasing. And Lydia's. And biscuit's. Probably even Maia's." Magnus' laughed at Alec's faint whimper. "There, there, darling. I'm sure it won't be that bad."

It was. For some reason (and Alec was sure this was proof some deity had it out for him) it wasn't just the five girls having breakfast. Oh no. Jace and Simon had been invited too. His brother took one look at him and started laughing, choking on his breakfast. Served him right. Izzy was a tad more subtle.

"Nice shirt, Alec. Though you didn't have to dress up to have breakfast with us," she commented.

"It is a nice shirt," Alec was totally going to fire Lydia the minute he worked out how to sack a co-owner. "It feels a bit familiar, like I've seen it before."

Maia and Clary seemed ready to join in when Simon's eyes went wide. "Ooooh! He got laid!" That sent all the rest of adults into a laughing fit, including Jace who had just calmed down a bit.

"What does that mean? Why are they laughing?" Madzie frowned and that stopped the laughter. Though not because the others were sharing Alec's horror but because they were anxious to hear his answer. A bunch of traitors the lot of them.

"They are laughing because they are a bunch of immature cods." Madzie wrinkled her nose at the mention of her least favorite fish. "And I don't really want to suffer their presence any longer so if you've finished eating we should go home."

"But Maia is a fish expert," Madzie whined. "And she was explaining me all about eels. Can't we stay a bit longer? Pleeease?"

"It’s true, I was about to become a marine biologist before I switched to social service," the girl confirmed.

"Whatever." Alec dropped on a chair besides Jace, accepted a plate of pancakes not daring to mention he had already had breakfast, the innuendos would be too much, and resigned himself to losing his dignity in front of three strangers. Well, at least Magnus was worth it.

Alec spent the following month walking on cloud nine. Yes, not being able to kiss Magnus when they were in his apartment with Madzie got old pretty quickly but the thrill of dragging Magnus into the kitchen to make out for a couple of minutes while the girl was preoccupied almost made up for it. Almost. Magnus' penthouse had become a sort of safe haven for them, a place where they could do everything they wanted, and Alec quickly found himself loving it. And there were always their dates, so many dates. Thankfully Izzy and Jace had both claimed one afternoon a week each for auntie/uncle time which allowed them some extremely needed alone time. For her part Madzie was thrilled with Magnus' presence in their life. The girl was already used to his siblings, and sometimes even Lydia, dropping by their place all the time so it didn't strike her as odd when Magnus started doing the same. And the man was an endless source of entertainment (why on earth had he learned to juggle?) so she wouldn't have questioned it either way.

It all came to fruition thanks to Raj, surprisingly. He was one of the most promising new additions on Brandwell&Lightwood and when he came knocking on Alec's office in a Thursday for some advice in one of his cases, the man couldn't turn him down. He didn't even consider other options before calling Magnus.

_ "I wasn't expecting to hear from you today," _ Magnus said, sounding pleased.

"I know but I kind of need a favor," Alec answered with a smile. "I'm being held in the office and Madzie will need to be picked up in half an hour. I could call Jace or Izzy if you..."

" _ No, no, _ " the other man cut him off.  _ "I'd be thrilled to do it. And I do work in the same building." _

"Thanks." Alec smiled, hoping it carried over the phone.

" _ Don't mention it _ ," Magnus said dismissively and Alec scoffed, that man was too selfless for his own good. " _ I'll bring her up to my office, okay? You can come meet us when you're done. _ "

"If you are sure," Alec nodded. "I wouldn't want you to lose on a working afternoon because of me."

_ "I do know how to multitask, Alexander." _ Magnus sounded exasperated but fond enough that Alec didn't worry.  _ "And I have crayons and books and even a couple of tablets, I'm sure Madzie will be entertained while I work." _

Alec didn't doubt it but he wasn't as certain about Magnus willingness to put work before a play date with Madzie. He wisely kept silent on the topic and thanked Magnus several more times before hanging up and turning to his employer.

He was proved right a couple of hours later when he arrived at Magnus' office. Even from the elevator Alec could hear music blasting through the door and when he opened it he was graced with the sight of Madzie and Magnus jumping and dancing, hair disheveled and smiles shining. He leaned on the door not wanting to interrupt what looked like Magnus teaching the girl some steps that, if Alec was not mistaken, were from High School Musical (and Alec only knew that because of Jace okay? He definitely didn't like those movies!).  The girl gave a whirl which caused her to spot him.

"Daddy!" she ran towards him and Alec picked her up.

"I see you two are having fun," he commented and Madzie nodded vigorously.

"We are." Magnus beamed at them. "And we are doing exercise, aren't we Sweet Pea?  So it's a win-win situation."

His eyes had a spark of mischief and a lot of fondness and he looked so beautiful. And not in the always put together way that everyone could see. No, this kind of beauty was more intimate, rarer, and it was just for Alec's eyes. Only now, Madzie's was also trusted with it. Alec didn't even register the intention, he just leaned in, with Madzie still in his arms, to peck Magnus hello. When he pulled back the other man was smiling even wider and Alec could not find it on himself to regret it.

Not even when Madzie told him, "you kissed Magnus!"

"I know." He sighed, grabbing Magnus hand for support and feeling stronger when he squeezed it, rings biting into his skin. "Magnus is my boyfriend."

"Does that means he'll start sleeping in your room?" she asked. Magnus raised an eyebrow at that and Alec shook his head slightly, cursing Lydia internally.

Luckily the older man rolled with it and answered Madzie before he could. "If that's okay with you, I will some nights. But I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

"Of course I'm okay with this," Madzie was almost buzzing with excitement and Alec readjusted his grip automatically, letting go of Magnus' hand to avoid dropping her. "That means you can do the voices every night!"

He laughed at that, seeing all the tension bleed out of Magnus' body while he told the girl that, maybe not every night, but he'd love to do the voices more often. Alec smiled, enormously pleased that his plan had worked out, Madzie was so used to Magnus that she could only see benefits at him being around more. And honestly, so could Alec, after all, his boyfriend was kind of amazing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter 'idea' was boyfriend, did you like their first date? Everthing seems to be going well in Alec's life, it would be such a shame if something were to happen... Tell me all your thoughts in the comments, please. Or leave me kudos, they cheer up my days.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec has an unfortunate encounter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting to the end of this fic, I'm the only one that feels sat? Anyway, enjoy!

What followed were a couple of months without problems. Magnus picking Madzie up started getting more and more usual until he joined Jace and Izzy in claiming one afternoon with her. That allowed Alec to go back to work full time and if he ended up having to bring more work home, well, it still was better than the endless extra hours he used to spend in the office.

Before Madzie knew about them, they had silently agreed that Magnus' loft was for alone time and Alec's apartment for family time, now everything was blurred. Most days of Magnus' afternoons ended in his loft and soon one of his guestrooms was declared as Madzie's. The other days depended a lot on what they did but, be it in one place or the other, Alec found himself spending at least five nights a week with Magnus. He really thought that they had found a formula that worked for them all.

"Hi," Alec opened the door with a smile in one of those rare Thursdays they had decided to sleep in his place. "Did you two have fun today?"

Magnus opened his mouth to answer but Madzie beat him to it. "No, it was awful, I don't wanna go with Magnus again," she said and then ran to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Magnus stood there, frozen, trying to pinpoint what he had done wrong and feeling completely heartbroken. Madzie had seemed happy when he had gone to pick her up after school. Maybe she had been bored during his meeting with Elliot? He had tried to reschedule but the bookkeeper didn't have that much free time. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice Alec caressing his shoulder. "I don't know what I did wrong," he admitted and his voice came out far more broken and vulnerable than he wanted, "but I didn't mean to upset her."

"I know," Alec reassured him. "It's probably just some misunderstanding, she adores you."

Magnus shook his head slightly. "You should go check on her. She was very silent on the walk back, only talking in monosyllables. I assumed she was tired but well..." He gestured at the situation. "I'll just go."

"Don't," Alec said sharply, grabbing his arm to stop him. "I mean, if you want to stay please do, I'll go talk to her and she'll be apologizing to you, I promise." He raised his hand to stop Magnus' protests. "Even if you did do something wrong, which I doubt, she shouldn't have been so rude to you. I'll be back in a sec," he said pecking Magnus' lips.

He made his way towards Madzie's room, deciding to scold the girl for her behavior, but his anger became worry the moment he stood outside her door and heard what he hoped wasn't muffled sobs. Alec paused extremely confused, he trusted Magnus and he knew he loved her, there was no way he’d done something to distress her like that on purpose. He breathed deeply and knocked on the door.

"I don't wanna speak with Magnus." Madzie's voice was rougher than usual confirming Alec's fear that she was crying.

"It's just me, can I come in?" he asked as softly as possible, not really knowing what he would do if the answer was no.

"Okay."

Alec entered the room and softly closed the door behind himself, the lights weren't on and Madzie was on her bed, clutching the orca plushie against her chest and drowning her cries in it. "Want to tell me why you’re crying?" Alec asked, sitting beside her and hugging her against his side.

It took a moment for Madzie to answer and when he did Alec's heart broke. "Magnus doesn't love me."

"Now why would you say that?" Alec asked softly, feeling completely dumbfounded. The girl’s eyes were red and puffy and she looked even more miserable than when she had said goodbye to Iris. Alec hated seeing her like that, especially for something he knew wasn't true.

"Because you said fam-family wasn't blood but l-love, right? And today a man asked him if I was his daughter and h-he said I wasn't, tha-that I was his bo-boyfriend's," she explained, her voice breaking at several points, and Alec sighed, of course it had been all a misunderstanding.

"Madz, family is love and Magnus is your family, I'm sure if you ask him he'll agree. But family doesn't have to be parents, you know that. Jace and Izzy aren't your parents but they love you a lot. And so does Magnus," he explained gently.

Madzie shook his head. "But you kiss him, and you are my daddy! And you never said to call him uncle, and he usually sleeps in your room," she accused.

"It's more complicated than that, Madz. I may be hoping one day he will be your dad and maybe he wants the same but these things take time. It's too soon," he tried to explain but really, it was hard to explain how the man that basically lived with them, that picked her up after school at least once a week and made her breakfast almost every day wasn't her father. "Look, I'm just saying you have to be patient, Magnus said that because I haven't had a conversation about this with him and he would never presume, not without my blessing. And I promise we'll have this conversation, but it'll have to wait because we've only been together for three months and it's way too early. Trust me," he said and Madzie still looked a bit confused but she nodded. "That doesn't mean he doesn't love you, he really, really does."

"Yeah?" at some point during his monologue Madzie had stopped crying and now he was looking at him with a hopeful, open expression.

"Yes," Alec confirmed. "What do I always say about actions and words?"

Madzie bit her lip, thinking for a moment. "Actions matter more because they are the truth. But words are still important, though, ‘cause people can't read minds."

Alec nodded. "And when you decided that Magnus didn't love you, were you paying attention to his words or his actions?" he asked.

"Words," Madzie admitted sheepishly. “But not all his words, because he said nice things to me too and I didn't listen them."

"And what about Magnus' actions?" Alec prompted gently.

"He let me have the last piece of pizza even though he wanted it," Madzie recalled. "And he redid my braid and said I was the prettiest girl. And he colored with me after lunch and let me have the yellow crayon, he painted his sun blue."

"So..."

"He loves me," Madzie realized and a shy smile, quite similar to the one Magnus had every time he was pleasantly surprised, spread on her face.

"Yes, he does. And you've said mean things to him so now he is really upset." Alec hated how that made Madzie’s smile drop but he had to make her see that her outburst had hurt Magnus.

"I have to say sorry," she said almost running out of the room. Alec watched her bemused and then sighed, so Madzie already thought of Magnus as her dad then. Well, that was where this was headed after all. And to be fair, Alec kind of did too. He just hoped Magnus was there with them.

Back in the living room Magnus was sitting on the couch, still going through everything Madzie and him had done during the day and trying to remember where it had all gone wrong when a little tornado threw herself into his lap. He almost didn't have time to react before two tiny arms circled his neck. "I'm sorry Mags, I didn't mean that," she said too loud and too close to his ear but Magnus didn't care. He hugged her back as tightly as he dared, closing his eyes and burying his face in her hair. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You are forgiven, Sweet Pea," Magnus told her caressing her hair. "But you have to tell me what I did to upset you. I don’t want to do it again, ever."

Madzie bit her lip and looked towards Alec who dropped on the couch by Magnus’ side, and put his arm over his shoulders bringing him closer. When he realized the girl was looking at him for guidance he nodded. "You said I wasn't your daughter," she explained and couldn't help but sound a bit hurt. Magnus tensed and his eyes widened. "I thought that meant you didn't love me," she confessed.

"Of course I love you," Magnus reassured her hastily. "I haven't loved anyone the way I love you."

"I love you too." Madzie smiled brightly at him and Magnus felt his eyes stink. "And I'll wait," she promised which made Alec grimace.

"You'll wait?" Magnus raised an eyebrow, more directed towards Alec than Madzie.

"Madz, why don't you go chose a movie?" Alec interrupted.

Madzie pouted. "But I'm making Magnus not upset."

Magnus smiled at her. "I'm not upset anymore, I promise. Now go pick a movie for us, will you darling?"

Madzie huffed and got out of Magnus' lap dragging her feed out of the room. "She'll wait?" Magnus repeated.

"I may have told her it was too soon to say you were her dad," Alec admitted, cheeks burning.

"That implies she will get to call me that one day," noticed Magnus keeping his tone suspiciously casual.

"Sorry if I presumed."

"Alec, look at me," Magnus forced Alec to meet his eyes. “I would never have let myself get this attached to Madzie, or her to me for that matter, if I wasn't in it for the long haul. And I wouldn't have gotten involved with a single parent in the first place if I didn't have serious feelings for you."

"I have serious feelings for you too," admitted Alec with soft smile. "And I would really like it if one day Madzie was ours."

"I would really like that too." Magnus smiled and leaned over to kiss Alec sweetly. They both closed their eyes, enjoying the familiarity of the kiss until Madzie unceremoniously dropped herself back on Magnus’ lap startling them both.

"Here," she said shoving Mulan into Alec's face and leaning possessive into Magnus. Both adults shared an amused smile, then Alec got up and put on the movie. The rest of the night was spent cuddling in front of the TV, silently reassuring one another that they did love each other.

Because they did, they loved Madzie and they loved one another, Alec knew that's what 'serious feelings' was code for. And yet, they were using codes. They hadn't said the words out loud, even though they'd been forever present in their interactions for a while now. And the thing was Alec thought that Magnus was just waiting for him to go first. Because while the other man had no problem making his intentions known, flirting and even confessing deep 'serious feelings' in the most vulnerable ways, when it came to initiating milestones in their relationship, he usually waited for Alec's cues. Was he being respectful of Alec's more complicated situation? Was he acting like that because of some baggage from previous relationships? Alec didn't know and the truth was, he didn't mind setting the pace; Magnus always matched him, steady and sure so he knew it wasn't for a lack of wanting or interest in their relationship. Point was Alec had to be the one to say those three words first and something was stopping him. If something had happened a couple of months ago, something big enough to trigger a sudden realization of his feelings, he would probably have blurted out them the moment he had seen Magnus. But it hadn't. No, instead one day, Alec could not even point out which, his being in love with Magnus had become a fact, something Alec knew for certain, something that had been true for weeks if not months. And Alec really wanted to tell Magnus, of course he did. He didn't feel unsure or scared. But he was a perfectionist and that applied to love declarations too, apparently. The problem was big, planned declarations where flowers were given and a band played weren't them. Or at least they weren't Alec. He just wanted to find a right, quiet moment between the two of them, and only the two of them, and say it, not as a confession but as a reminder. And that could not be prearranged so all Alec could do was wait till it felt right.

Something occurred several weeks later that made Alec stop thinking about it, though.

He had taken Madzie grocery shopping like he did every Friday, it was a small enough shop and they both knew it perfectly, so when the girl ran towards the cookie section Alec allowed it, getting the essentials while she decided which one she preferred. He turned an aisle to get Madzie's cereals and stopped in his tracks, smile falling from his lips. After years of no contact, he was standing face to face with Maryse Lightwood. At least she seemed as shocked as him, though it didn't take  either of them too long to compose their face into their blankest expression. "Maryse," he said curtly and turned to leave.

"Still with the avoiding act? Don't you think this is getting childish?" her mother told him disdainfully.

"Excuse me?" Alec asked, no one managed to get him enrage as fast as his mother did. "I seem to remember you telling me not to call or contact you until I had decided to live my life right. I am simply following your wishes, so how on earth am I being childish?"

"If you would just understand how easier life would be for you if you had just followed my footsteps." She sighed like Alec was being the unreasonable one. "I have nothing against gay people, I really don't, but it just makes life harder for you.”

"Believe me, Maryse, I know damn well how being gay makes 'life harder'. I'm the one that lives with it," hissed Alec trying not to cause a scene in Madzie's vicinity. "You know what else makes life harder? Having to face it without the support of your parents. So don't you dare talk to me about easy paths."

"Just be rational Alec, you'll be so much better off if you had listened to me," Maryse kept pushing.

"Better off by what standards? You’re straight, a judge, far richer and more 'prestigious' than I am and I don't think you can pinpoint the last time you were happy or that someone actually liked you," he spat back, making his mother flinch like she had been hit. "I have a family and friends that both like me and love me; the last time I was happy was five minutes ago before I ran into you. I don't want easy. Easy is usually not worth it. And I won't sacrifice happiness for the sake of stability and status"

"Alec..." Maryse tried again, she actually looked a bit desperate now but she was interrupted by Madzie running towards Alec.

"Can we get these cookies, daddy?" she asked and Maryse's face lost all the color.

"Maybe later, we should leave now," Alec said abandoning all his groceries and taking advantage of Maryse's complete shock to take his little girl as far away from her as possible.

Of course it took Madzie a nanosecond to realize something was wrong. That girl was way too smart for her own good. "Who was that lady you were talking to?"

"My mom." The word caught in his throat after so much time of not using it but he had promised himself he would be honest with Madzie. And right now he wanted to be very honest and very clear about a topic in particular so he stopped, lowered her to the ground and kneeled by her side. "Madzie I need to tell you something and you need to listen very carefully and always remember it." The girl nodded very seriously. "I love you. I love you completely and unconditionally. That means that there's nothing you can do, say or be that's going to make me turn my back on you, okay? You'll always have me by your side, if you want me there, no matter what."

Madzie rolled her eyes. "I know that, daddy, I'm not stupid."

And that was the moment in which every lingering doubt Alec had about whether he was raising her right banished. "I'm glad to hear that," he said with a small smile. But Madzie frowned and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

"You’re sad," she said and it wasn't a question.

"A bit, but I'll be alright," he told her. But Madzie wasn't convinced and managed to steal his phone out of his jacket's pocket. "Are you going to make a call?" Alec asked amused.

Madzie nodded and pressed the phone in her ear. "Hi Magnus, daddy is sad," she said and Alec sighed, of course the little devil was telling Magnus. "You have to take him to get hot cocoa," she demanded before handing the phone back to Alec.

" _ Where are you?" _ Magnus asked over the line.

"Don't worry, everything's okay, I just ran into my mother..."

" _ Well, then I am definitely taking you out for hot chocolate, give me the address, Lightwood _ ." And Alec couldn't deny Magnus anything when he used that tone, so he just sighed and told him where they were. Five minutes later Magnus' company car stopped in front of them and the door opened. "Get in."

Madzie jumped inside and Alec followed with a sigh. “You really didn’t have to come.”

“I wanted to,” Magnus shrugged. “And I’m glad I did, you look awful.”

“Why, thank you,” Alec muttered darkly. “I find you very handsome too.”

Magnus rolled his eyes at him. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“I’m fine, it just stirred up several memories I rather keep under lock, that’s all.” Alec smiled and accepted Magnus’ reassuring arm over his shoulders. “Look, could we go take that hot chocolate home? I really don’t feel like going out.”

“Fine,” Madzie sighed. “But we go to the little home so we can snuggle on the couch.” Magnus and Alec shared a look, Madzie had taken to referring to Alec’s apartment as little home and Magnus’ loft as big home and it never failed to amuse them.

“Deal,” Alec agreed.

But of course nothing on that day could go according to plan.

“Why is it so cold inside?” Madzie asked in a whiny voice, hugging Magnus’ legs.

“Pretty sure that the heat is broken,” the man explained, picking her up. “I guess we’ll have to go to the big home, Sweet Pea.” Madzie sighed.

“You two go ahead,” Alec told them, not wanting to expose Madzie to the cold for longer than necessary. “I have to go talk to the landlord and have this fixed.”

Madzie seemed ready to protest but Magnus was faster. “That’s a great idea, we can build a blanket fort while we wait, that will really cheer Alexander up, don’t you think?” he whispered to the girl who nodded enthusiastically, letting Magnus take her out while Alec made those calls.

The fort did kind of cheer Alec up. It was pretty hard to keep fuming while sitting on the floor under soft blankets and surrounded by fluffy pillows with Magnus and Madzie in matching onesies (when had they got those?) looking extremely adorable.

“Everything fixed?” asked Magnus handing him a mug.

“No,” Alec sighed. “I talked to the landlord but he’s on a holiday and won’t be back until the end of the month.” He stroked Madzie’s hair gently. “And apparently he is very particular about repairs in his building.”

“So what, does he expects you to spend a month freezing?” Magnus frowned looking at the little girl worryingly. “He knows you’ve got a kid, doesn’t he?”

“I think he wants me to go ahead and fix it so he can keep the deposit. Not exactly ethical but a court case would probably cost me more.” Alec sighed, more annoyed than angry.

“Or you two could just spend the month here,” Magnus offered in that calculated casual tone that Alec knew was anything but. “I do have the room and it’s pretty close to both your work and Madzie’s school.”

“Are you sure?” Alec asked, wanting to be convinced that it was a good idea. Their relationship was what? Four months old? That wasn’t too much. But they were already kind of living together most days of the week and they were serious, very serious. And it would only be a month, after all, a test run.

“Would I have offered if I weren’t?” Magnus retoured. “But please don’t feel obligated to say yes, I understand if it’s too soon.”

“No, I… Thank you, I think that’d be the best solution.” Alec smiled at Madzie. “Would you like to live here for a month?”

“Can we bring Couch?” Madzie was using her puppy eyes but Alec braved it.

“Pretty sure it doesn’t go with the décor here. And you know how much Magnus love matching things.”

“But I’m also always happy to redecorate,” pointed out the man. “And your couch is better than mine.”

Alec sighed, there was no way he’d win against those two teamed up. “I’ll call Jace to see if he can help me bring it.”

But before he could even start to move the phone rang. “Uncle Jace has magical powers,” giggled Madzie handing it to him.

“Hey, Jace.

“ _ Where are you? I went to yours but no one’s there,” _ he sounded a bit distraught so Alec explained him what had happened. “ _ I always told you Aldertree was a snake. _ ” Jace sighed. “ _ I’ll help you move the couch tomorrow, alright? I have a free afternoon. But Magnus is helping too. _ ”

“I’m sure he won’t mind,” Alec answered smiling at the man. “What were you calling me for?”

There was a silence on the other end of the line and Alec waited until Jace had found the right words. “ _ Mom called me,” _ he started and Alec closed his eyes, he had almost forgotten that had happened. “ _ She asked about you and… And Madzie. I swear I don’t know how she found out about her, I didn’t tell her!” _

“I know,” Alec reassured him. “I know you didn’t. She saw us grocery shopping.”

“ _ Oh, well, I told her that if she wanted to know anything she should ask you but she seemed very distressed. I just thought you should know.” _

“Thanks, I appreciate the warning.”

When he hung up, Madzie pulled at his sleeve trying to get his attention. “Are you mad at your mom?”

Alec thought about it for a minute. Was he mad? He had been for so long, furious even but… “No, not really, not anymore.”  Now he was disappointed and upset. And on the worst days apathetic.

“Then why don’t you want to see her?” the girl asked.

“Look, Madz, sometimes there’s people in your life that hurt you, maybe without even wanting to,” he explained softly. “And they do it over and over and over till you start believing it’s your fault. That it’s because something is wrong with you. But that’s never it, okay? And if that happens to you, you don’t have to keep seeing them even if they are your friends or family, even if you love them. Because you have to love yourself too.”

Madzie seemed to think about it for a while. “What if they promised not to do it again?”

“Depends,” Magnus said then looked at Alec for permission to go on. “There are people that say it without really meaning it. They say they are sorry but never acknowledge what they did wrong, never try to make amends, they want you to forget and forgive. To see if someone is serious about it you have to wait and see them changing, apologizing and trying to learn to do better. And even if they really are sorry sometimes, you don’t want to see them again anyway because they hurt you a lot and that’s okay, it doesn’t make you a bad person,” he said the last part looking at Alec.

“But it doesn’t matter because she doesn’t want to make it okay anyway,” Alec ended the conversation categorically. “Who wants to see a movie?”

The thing was Alec knew he would forgive his mother if she ever tried, if she ever put in the effort. Maybe it was the right call, maybe it wasn't, but Alec knew it would be his. But the way things had been the years between him coming out and forming his firm? Those tense silence, unspoken words, changes of subjects and overall willful ignorance of who he was? Alec was not going back to that, going back to acting ashamed, because he wasn't. If loving Magnus was wrong, then being right was not something that interested him.

Thankfully, the change of living arrangements kept him busy enough to avoid dwelling in those thoughts. Getting the couch into Magnus’ apartment had been a herculean task and not something he was looking forward to repeating at the end of the month even if he had appreciated Madzie’s beaming, grateful smile and Magnus’ appreciative glances. The older man had, as promised, taken the addition of the new couch as an excuse to redecorate and Alec had to admit that, as exhausting as it had been, he had had fun going furniture shopping with him and Madzie. Soon the loft looked nothing like it had and, while Magnus’ elegant and lavish touch remained, Alec could see a bit of his influence in it as well as Madzie’s in it.

Magnus had made Madzie stay in a guest room while he gave her bedroom the ‘finishing touches’ that somehow required Clary to work a whole week in it. When they were finally allowed in, Madzie almost fainted of the excitement. Magnus had commissioned the redhead to paint all the walls simulating the views under the sea, completed with very realistic fishes that Madzie spent an afternoon pointing and naming.

“I don’t know how I’ll convince her to go back to the apartment,” Alec commented smiling at Magnus.

“You’ll figure something out,” the man promised with a smile but Alec could see something in his eyes, something between hope and guilt that he could not quite name. It was gone after a second when Madzie called for them to come and listen to the facts she knew about some fish Alec most definitely didn’t want hanging over his own bed, how many teeth did that thing really need? Soon the conversation turned into a competition of sorts in which Alec and Magnus invented backstories and adventures for the fish while Madzie listened with rapt attention adding details of her own making.

They soon fell into a domestic rhythm. Magnus was a better cook than Alec, but Alec didn’t mind cleaning so they each did their part with Madzie happily helping when she could. And since Magnus was letting them stay there rent free (“It’s my building, Alexander, it’s not like I pay rent!”), Alec tried to beat Magnus grocery shopping. Magnus soon retaliated by starting to buy things like clothing, books or the likes for both him and Madzie so Alec negotiated a two thirds grocery spend deal to stop him. It did, though Alec suspected Madzie was still getting more things than what she let on. All in all they were adjusting far better than either had hoped and Madzie seemed thrilled with both the place and the almost never-ending amount of time Magnus spent with them.

His siblings also seemed pleased with the change. There was a bit of an awkward moment the first Saturday when Jace declared that Magnus wasn’t allowed in movie night and should, therefore, leave until morning. And before Alec could apologize, Jace shrugged an added, “Or put a ring on it, I guess, we’ll allow spouses.”

Magnus laughed at that, “I think I’ll wait a bit for that.” He winked at Alec who could only blush and sputter and told him, “I was due a sleepover with Catarina anyway, have fun, darlings.”

The moment the door closet after him Izzy turned towards Alec. “You better hold onto that one, if he can put up with Jace’s bullshit like that he is definitely a keeper.”

“I know,” Alec sighed. “And we are changing either the rules or the location of movie nights until my place is fixed. I’m so not letting you kick my boyfriend out of his own home once a week.”

Jace sighed. “Well, I guess Izzy’s place isn’t that bad.”

“It’s definitely better than yours.”

Alec let his siblings squabble for a while, with Madzie sat between them following their quips like a tennis play. He wouldn’t admit it under torture but his siblings not being able to drop unannounced at his place was one of the things he was having the hardest time adjusting to. Of course not having keys didn’t stop them from coming over in the most bizarre times which was why Alec was not surprised when one night the doorman called them to explain that a black-haired, beautiful woman wanted Alec to meet her at the reception.

“That’s weird,” Magnus commented, raising his eyes from the book he was reading. “Izzy usually calls first.”

Alec shrugged, gently dislodging Magnus’ feet from his lap before getting up. “Not that weird, once, after a breakup, she came to my apartment at three in the morning with a pint of ice cream and forced me to eat it with her.” He took his jacket before kissing Magnus. “I should be back in ten minutes. I’ll let you know if I’m out for longer.”

“Don’t rush, Madzie is sleeping and I have a very good book requiring my attention. You won’t be missed,” he joked brandishing the book.

“Is that so?” Alec leaned in a fraction.

“It is.” Magnus imitated him, letting his eyes drop into Alec’s mouth.

The phone buzzed again and Alec sighed.

“Go to your sister, Alexander, I’m not going anywhere.” Magnus pushed him gently towards the door and Alec obeyed.

When he arrived at the lobby the doorman told him that the woman was waiting for him outside, so Alec opened the door with a smile on his face. He froze. Standing tall in the cold was the last person he expected to see. "Mo... Maryse? What are you doing here?" he asked in hushed tones, stepping outside and closing the door after himself.

"You were right," she said and Alec blinked, aware that he was probably sporting the stupidest astonish expression to ever exist. "You were right," she repeated like she herself couldn't believe what she was saying. "I've been thinking a lot these past few weeks," she started. "About what you said, about the fact that only two out of my four children talk to me anymore, about you having a daughter and me not even knowing she existed. I don't even know her name..." Her expression was heartbreaking but Alec just crossed his arms and glared.

"Well, taking her in was the hard choice so you'd probably have disapproved." Alec snapped.

His mother nodded slightly. "And I would have been wrong." Maryse took a deep breath. "I don't know if you believe me anymore, Alec, but I do love you. And I love Max, Isabelle and Jace. Everything I've ever done, as misguided as it may have been, was to try to give you a good life."

And Alec really couldn’t take that, not as an excuse, not as an explanation. "Maybe we don't want the life you started crafting for us before we were even born. Have you ever thought about that?" Alec asked harshly trying not to focus on that little part of him that still rejoiced at her declaration of love.

"Yes, it's all that’s been in my mind these past weeks," she admitted looking sternly at his eyes. "I was so focused on what I thought was best that I forgot about your happiness. I have four brilliant kids and I should have let you made your own choices. I should have never imposed my impossible expectations about how you should be on you and been disappointed when you didn't fit in the path I had decided for you."

"You've actually been thinking about it," Alec realized and he hated the spark of hope that ignited on his chest. But this was it, this was all he had wanted to hear for the last two years.

"I have," she confirmed with a firm nod, raising her chin high. "And I decided that you are right, I'm not happy and it's mostly my doing. Instead of obsessing with you following my steps, I should have been proud you were brave enough to start your own firm and that it had such a success. And the same goes for Isabelle, she may not be a neurosurgeon but she is the best forensic in New York and at such young age too. And Jace's got more arrests than anyone else on his precinct so who cares if he is a cop and not FBI. You've all chosen your own field and rose to the top of it and I should have been proud about it, not bitter. I  _ am _ proud." She took a deep breath but Alec didn’t dare to interrupt her. "I'm also extremely sad because I don't know any of you anymore, I follow your accomplishments, I always have, but knowing how many clients your firm has doesn't tell me your daughter's name."

"Madzie, her name is Madzie," Alec admitted, his voice soft, only to put up all his barriers again when he realized how vulnerable he had sounded. "What do you want, Maryse?" he asked suddenly exhausted.

"I want to know if I can still mend things with you and your siblings. I want to be better, I'll be better," she said and the most terrifying part was that Alec believed her, his and Izzy's determination had to come from somewhere after all and it definitely hadn't been his father. "I'll fix myself up whether  you give me another chance or not, of course. I know I can't ask for your support when I never gave you mine."

They stood there in silence for a minute, looking at one another. "I can't speak for my siblings," Alec said finally with a sigh. "But if you are willing to make an effort then I'm willing to try, too," he said before taking a deep breath and stopping her mother before she could speak. "However, this doesn't mean all is forgiven and if you really want to fix things you should know that I am head over heels in love with a brilliant, gorgeous, Asian man who likes to wear makeup and doesn't adhere to any social convention he doesn't like. You are going to have to respect him and our relationship if you want any of my time."

Maryse nodded a hesitant smile on her lips. "Of course."

"And I don't want you anywhere near my daughter, at least not yet, maybe never." Alec added, and maybe he was being cruel but he had to make that clear. Maryse's smile fell. "I won't have anyone treating her the way you treated Izzy, Jace or me," he explained trying not to sound too cold. "I'm not saying everything you did was bad, but you did try to make Izzy think her confidence was problematic and that’s not okay. And Jace was terrified of being cast away the second he stopped being the best in everything so you used that just like you used my love for them, for you, to get me to do things for the 'family name'. You disowned me because I didn't fit in your idea of how I should be and you threw Jace away for a while because of who his father was. And I know you did that to him because you thought better to lose a kid than three but you turned your back on him when he needed you most and that was wrong. I want to fix things with you, I've missed you and I still love you but I'm trying to teach my girl that family loves you unconditionally and I don't trust you yet not to shatter her trust."

Maryse nodded, eyes shining with unshed tears, she looked hurt but she was a Lightwood, she'd take any consequences with her head held high. "That girl is really lucky, I always knew you’d make a great dad," she smiled softly, almost wishfully. "And I accept your conditions. Maybe we can meet some day for coffee? We clearly have a lot to talk about."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Alec admitted shyly.

The stood there, looking at each other awkwardly until Maryse nodded to herself. "Well, I'd let you go back to your family then, sorry for the interruption. And Alec..." She bit her lip. "I've missed you too."

Alec nodded and went back inside, he called the elevator but stood there, holding the door open without entering. He felt oddly calm. This was his mother telling him he was right, that she was proud of him and that she was sorry, teenage Alec would have been beaming, feeling giddy. Adult Alec, on the other hand, felt just content and maybe a bit hopeful. It wasn't really because he was cautious, he knew his mother, if she had said she was wrong then she knew she was and she didn't see any way to pretend otherwise. Maryse Lightwood wouldn't pretend to be sorry when she wasn't, her pride wouldn't allow it. Not to mention that she had always had a certain bluntness that, Alec admitted, she had passed onto him. No, if she said she wanted to make things right then she would. And yet Alec was just content when half his life he had linked his happiness onto pleasing her. He shook his head, confused, and got into the elevator, afraid some neighbor would get mad at him for hogging it. It wasn't until he was back inside his home, smiling in answer to the question in Magnus' eyes that it hit him. He didn't need his mother to make amends. He wanted her to, he missed her, but he didn't need it. He had stopped craving her approbation, her pride, years ago, now he just liked having it.

"What?" Magnus asked looking at him strangely and Alec wondered idly what his expression must look like.

"Nothing, I'm just really glad I have the family I have," he answered. Magnus looked at him strangely.

"Well yeah, your siblings are pretty great," he admitted probably still thinking he had just seen Isabelle.

"And you and Madzie are the best," Alec completed with a smile.

Magnus smiled at him softly. "Duh."

And Alec laughed. This. Unconditional love, yes, but also respect, friendship, laughter. This was what family looked like. This was his family. And yes, he wanted Maryse to become part of it but he'd be fine if she never could. Because now his happiness wasn't held hostage by anyone, it was his and he was surrounded by people who nurtured it  _ with _ him. He dropped on the couch beside Magnus and kissed him soundly.

"Not that I'm complaining," Magnus giggled. "But what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," Alec told him, he'd explain about Maryse in the morning, now he just wanted to bask on his boyfriend presence. "I just love you a lot. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Magnus smiled bright like the sun and it was then that Alec realized what he had finally admitted. He returned the smile, shyly, and waited for Magnus to keep talking. "I love you too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this chapter is a bit shorter than usually but it felt right to finish him, sorry. Please leave me a kudo or comment if you liked it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alec makes up with Maryse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be a Maryse centric chapter but Magnus kind of stole the show there for a bit... Not that I regret anything.
> 
> Also sorry for not warning you guys that last week there wouldn't be a chapter, it was my midterm exams' week and I hardly had time for breathing, let alone write.
> 
> And with that being said, I leave you with the chapter, I hope you enjoy it!

It took a couple of weeks for Alec to actually go have coffee with his mother. Both their jobs were demanding and Alec didn't want to neglect Madzie who already wasn't pleased with the hours he had to spend working.

Both Izzy and Jace had called him to explain they had similar conversations with Maryse. Jace was euphoric though he had never really cut ties with her, always too grateful for being taken in and allowed into the family to get mad for long at their parents. But he had been hurt, really hurt, when they had turned their backs on him during the Valentine debacle and Alec could never be thankful enough that both Maryse and Robert had reached out to him to half apologize when everyone still thought Jace was a Morgenstern. The blonde wasn’t one for holding grudges but Alec knew he remembered exactly who had stayed by his side and who had only favored him when he had become a Herondale. Having Maryse actually ask for forgiveness and stop using him as the middle man between her anger and her two other children was a relief for him. Izzy, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure about what to feel. She was still angry, furious even, more in the behalf of her brothers than on her own. And she was afraid. Isabelle Lightwood was one of the most confident people Alec knew but their mother had a knack for making her feel ashamed, inadequate. Not that Iz would ever show it, of course. And it had taken all of her not at all insignificant will to break away from her for good. So now she was uncertain, reluctant to give her back even a part of that ill-used power, and Alec couldn’t blame her. In the end, she had asked Alec to go first, to see if Maryse would fall back into her old ways and Alec had agreed.

When Alec finally met her, it was, ironically, on the same coffee shop he had found Madzie in. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes while a waiter, thankfully not Simon, brought them their drinks.

“So, tell me about your boyfriend,” Maryse urged, she didn’t wince at the b-word though it sounded a bit artificial, like she had been practicing that opening in her head over and over.

“His name’s Magnus,” Alec told her unable to contain the awe in his voice. “Magnus Bane.”

“The CEO of the Downworld group?” she asked, sounding a tiny bit impressed. Alec preened at that, always ready to sing his boyfriend’s praises, and nodded proudly. “I heard he arrived here with nothing and built the company from the ground.” That made Alec tense, aware of his mother’s opinion on ‘new money’ but Maryse proceeded, “he must be extremely smart and driven.”

“He is,” Alec agreed easily. “He’s probably the most intelligent man I’ve ever met. Most stubborn, too.”

“Then he’s a good match for you,” Maryse commented and Alec had to repress a smile. “How did you two meet?”

Alec hesitated, not sure if he wanted to be the one bringing Madzie up. In the end he decided that lying or refusing to answer would make things far tenser than saying the truth would. “His hotel has a pretty neat play-ground and Madzie went there with Idris daycare. She got separated from the group and Magnus found her and called me.”

“Oh,” Maryse blinked, surprised. “It’s just… I assumed you both adopted the girl.” Alec waited for her to pass judgment on that but it never came. Instead her mother tried to find common ground again. “So Madzie goes to Idris? It’s a nice school.”

Alec winced at that. “No, at the moment she is going to Pandemonium's day-care, she doesn’t have to start school until next year but she won’t be going to Idris.” His mother raised an eyebrow, prompting him to elaborate. “Madzie’s former teacher seemed to have a problem with adoption and had no qualms about letting her know.”

“Well, that’s just outrageous. We never had that problem when we took Jace there.” Maryse frowned, suddenly looking unsure. “Right?” She looked at Alec for confirmation, looking half ready to go to war and Alec had no doubt that if his answer was positive she’d find the offending teachers and she would rain death over them. Or burry them in sues, same thing.

“Not from the teachers,” Alec hastily reassured her. “Some students weren’t so kind but Iz and I set them right.” Maryse sent him a proud smile for that. “Then again, Jace is white.”

Maryse nodded but didn’t comment. “Well, I’m sure you and Magnus will find an even better school to send her next year.”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded. He didn’t want to keep talking about Madzie, not when he refused to let his mother meet her, so he changed the subject. “So how have you been?”

“Well, work is good but except that…” Maryse shrugged self-consciously not really knowing what to say before something occurred to her. “Actually, that’s not true. I contacted Lucian,” Alec raised an eyebrow, confused. “You know him as Luke, Luke Garrowen, we used to be good friends but we… grew apart. Mostly my fault. I should have contacted him after Jocelyn’s death but… well, I decided that if I was truly making amends I needed to apologize to him, too. We’ve gone for coffee a few times and it’s been fun. I don’t think I’ve had a friend since… since him and Jocelyn, I suppose.”

“I didn’t know you two even knew each other,” Alec commented, curious.

“We went to school together, them, us, Michael Wayland and… Valentine Morgenstern,” Maryse said with something akin of shame on her voice. “Before Valentine started killing people, he tried to dabble into politics. We… we kind of helped him.” Alec knew that, had found out around the time the man had been arrested, but it was the first time his mother actually talked about it so he didn’t dare interrupt. “We wanted to change the world, make it a safer place. We were all so passionate! And we almost helped a psychopath get control of the city,” her voice was full of regret and reproaches. “I guess that’s part of why I was so afraid of you and your siblings when you stopped playing by the rules. I’ve seen how easily passion can be manipulated and a greater good used to excuse things that should never be even imagined.”

"Mom, have you ever thought that maybe the problem wasn't that you were passionate about something but the ideas you were passionate about?” Alec frowned, even in his political phase, Valentine bigotry was clear for all to see. Those laws against immigration he defended were atrocious! “And that the fact that you rejected your passion but not those ideas may have done more harm than good?”

Maryse nodded. “I know, but those ideas were something I had grown up with. It wasn’t that easy to just change them. Or to realize they were the problem, my parents had those ideas and so did my neighbors and they didn't follow Valentine.” She shook her head, stopping Alec’s reply. “But then again, you also grew up with those ideas drilled into you and have been able to recognize them as wrong.”

“I kind of didn’t have a choice,” Alec gently pointed out. “Not if I wanted to be allowed love.”

“But you have love now, don’t you?” Maryse asked anxiously.

“Yeah, yeah, I do.”

The rest of the coffee was spent talking about their respective work and other safe topics, both of them not wanting to push it more in the first try, and when they said goodbye it was with the promise of seeing each other again next week.

Alec arrived home almost whistling, Magnus and Madzie were out at the park, or so the cheerful text his boyfriend had sent him said, so he started doing the laundry taking advantage of the empty house. He had already loaded the washer when his phone rang. Alec let out a sigh when he saw the ID caller. Aldertree. The man had been less than pleased when he had arrived the week before and realized that his scheme had failed. Still he had promised to fix the heater as soon as he could and reminded Alec that he still had to pay this month rent. “Lightwood,” he answered the phone.

“Hi, this is Aldertree,” Alec rolled his eyes at the man’s polite tone. “I just wanted to let you know that the heater is fixed.” The lawyer smirked at the bitter tone of his landlord.

“Thank you for the call,” he said not bothering to mask his sarcastic tone. “If that was all, I’m kind of busy at the moment so…”

“Of course, Mr. Lightwood, just wanted to let you know you could go back home whenever you wanted, have a nice day.” Aldertree said before hanging up.

Home. Alec froze. Home to his apartment, his Magnus-less apartment of his only-spend-five-nights-a-week-with-Magnus life. Yeah, Alec didn’t want that. He wanted what they had now, a shared place with a shared life and a shared bedroom. And Madzie liked it better here too. The girl had brought some warmth to their old place but, except her and the couch, it had always been more of a functional place to rest than a home. And the couch was already in Magnus’ living room, in the loft that felt like them, like the three of them. What were they going to do? Move the couch back to Alec’s place, wait some months and then bring it back when they decided to actually live together? That would be ridiculous. And if this month of cohabitation had proved something, it proved they worked like this. Yes, they all had had some habits that needed adjustment but all in all they were fairly compatible. Or at least Alec thought so. He heard the door opened and sighed, well, all he could do now was find out if Magnus agreed.

“Daddy,” Madzie ran to him, beaming and with her cheeks red from the cold.

“Hi, sweetheart.” Alec picked her up, answering her smile. “Did you have fun?”

Madzie nodded.

“We always have fun together, don’t we, Sweet Pea?” Magnus winked, making her laugh. “What about you, how was your coffee date?”

“Surprisingly nice, she is actually trying,” he replied honestly, setting Madzie on the floor. “She asked me about you.”

“Did she, now?” Magnus raised an eyebrow playfully. "And what did you tell her?"

"That you are too good for me, obviously," he answered, pecking the man's lips.

"We both know that's not true," sighed Magnus, returning the kiss.

Madzie made a face. "Can I go watch TV while you guys kiss?" she asked with a grimace. Alec had barely time to nod before she was off, jumping on the couch.

"So," Alec seized this rare opportunity of talking to Magnus alone. "Aldertree just called." Magnus let out a humming, noncommittal sound causing Alec to grow nervous. "He says Madzie and I can move back if we want to." He let the conditional hang heavy between them.

"And do you want to?" asked Magnus, still not letting Alec know where he stood,

"Do we have an alternative?"

"Of course you do. It's okay if you think it's too soon but, well, this is working, isn't it?" Magnus had his arms crossed in front of his chest in a protective gesture and Alec reached out to uncross them, taking his hands in his and gently drawing circles with his thumbs in its backs.

"Yeah, it's working,” he admitted in a whisper. “So, you'd be okay with it if we decided we wanted to stay?" Alec checked even if he now had a clearer idea what the answer would be. "It's not too soon for me but it is fine if it's for you."

"It isn't and I'd be delighted if you stayed," Magnus told him a bit forcefully, his hands tightening his grip on Alec’s. "Will you?"

"Yeah, of course I will." Alec smile was too big for his face. "Madz is going to be thrilled. I was not looking forward to explain to her that she had to leave her room here temporally." And that mix of guilt and mischief that Alec hadn’t been able to name before appeared again on Magnus’ face but this time, Alec suspected he knew its cause. “Is that why you commissioned Clary to paint those fishes? To keep us here?” he asked amused.

“Why, I can’t believe you’d accuse me of something like this,” Magnus exclaimed in faux outrage. “My intentions were completely pure, I’ll have you know! I just wanted to make her smile.” Alec raised an eyebrow not doubting the statement but also pretty sure that there was more to it. “Fine, I may have also thought that it be a nice incentive for her to want to stay here.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Alec told him unable to stop grinning. “We don’t need any incentive, you are here, that’s reason enough for us to want to stay forever,” he stated and was rewarded with that surprised and awed smile that Magnus always made when Alec made it clear how much he cared for him. Alec loved as much as he hated that expression. Magnus had no place looking surprised at being loved, but Alec really liked how happy he looked at being reminded of it. “Is that also why you sided with her to get our couch here?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, that was just part of my ploy to steal that piece of furniture for myself,” Magnus tutted, making Alec laugh.

“Good luck with that, I’ll never surrender that couch,” Alec crossed his arms, faking his protective stand. “Where I go, it goes.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to keep you here, for the sake of my naps, if nothing else.” Magnus sighed, putted upon, and Alec laughed again, taking him on his arms and kissing him soundly.

A frowny voice interrupted them, “You are  _ still _ kissing? I’m hungry!”

“You know the rules, Sweep Pea, we aren’t having lunch for another hour,” Magnus told her. The girl opened her mouth to protest but Magnus stopped her. “Don’t even try, young lady, I know exactly what you had for breakfast and when and I can assure you, you aren’t in any danger of suffering starvation.”

Madzie pouted. “Fiiiiine,” she drawled. “Can I help prepare it?” She batted her eyelashes at Magnus’ direction. “You look tired after all that time in the park.”

“What a generous offer!” Magnus exclaimed. “Very nice of you to make it, especially since you don’t have any ulterior motives at all.”

Alec shook his head. “What ulterior motive could she have? It’s not like she wants to steal the ingredients so she can eat while the meal is being cooked.” Madzie giggled at their theatricals trying to put on her most innocent face, a trick she had learned from her aunt.

“Well, since it was such a selfless suggestion I have no choice but to agree,” Magnus declared.  Then his face fell dramatically and he turned towards Alec looking devastated. “But what I need is someone to cut the cheese for me and she is too little to handle a knife.” If Alec hadn’t known Magnus as well as he did, he would have believed the pure helplessness in his voice. Instead, though, he was having problem containing his laughter and maintaining a solemn façade.

Madzie bit her lip, pensive, clearly trying to find a way to be let loose on the cheese and Alec almost lost it. “What if daddy did it?”

Magnus seemed to ponder this for a second. “But then what would you do?”

“Tell him how to do it right, duh.”

Magnus nodded. “He is quite terrible at cooking, that would probably be for the best.”

“I’m not that bad,” Alec protested just for the sake of it. “I’m better than Izzy is.” The look Magnus send him was pure and sincere pity.

“That’s okay, daddy.” Madzie patted his hand consolingly. “No one is good at everything. Magnus is terrible at braiding!” The indignant scoff that got from the man in question was enough to make this conversation worth it in Alec’s opinion.

They worked together between laughter and bantering, with Alec periodically finding excuses for turning around and pretending that he didn’t see how the amount of cut cheese diminished every time. It was in this comfortable, domestic atmosphere that Alec told her, “Madz, how would you like it if we stayed here?”

“Ind-Indefinitely?” she asked, repeating the word that Alec had used for her adoption.

Magnus chuckled. “Yeah, that’s right.” His voice was casual but Alec could see that he had stopped chopping vegetables. “Would you like that?”

Madzie hummed noncommittally but her attempt at looking thoughtful was ruined by the smile that threatened to split her face. “One condition,” she said. And Alec had to suppress a smile seeing her trying to imitate Magnus’ nonchalant tone.

“Name it,” he proposed, curious to know what it was. He just hoped it wasn’t a pony, Magnus could not be trusted to deny her.

“I get to call Magnus papa.” Magnus and Alec’s eyes widened while the girl carelessly took another piece of cheese and threw it in her mouth not bothering trying to be discreet.

“I…” Magnus looked towards Alec, wanting some pointers but the other man just shrugged his shoulders, unable to hide his proud smile while he looked at his daughter. “Yes, you can do that if you want.” And Magnus would forever claim that the wetness in his eyes was due to the onions he was cutting but his boyfriend and daughter knew better.

Alec was smiling like a lunatic but couldn’t care less. “That’s settled then, we are staying here with Magnus. I’ll go call Jace and Iz to get them help me get what’s left of our things.”

His siblings didn’t have the decency to be surprised in the least by this development and Alec couldn’t bring himself to be offended when Izzy loudly proclaimed that Jace owed her fifty bucks (and Alec kind of really wanted to know whether or not they had a bet concerning his and Magnus’ wedding and what dates they thought would be appropriate, just out of curiosity of course). They also were extremely happy to hear about Madzie’s condition and he was perfectly aware that his own giddiness translated perfectly over the phone. He couldn’t help it, he was happy, he had been for months, and it didn’t look like it was going to end any time soon.

The next week passed in a blur between collecting the few things still in Alec’s old apartment, canceling all the contracts he had tied to it and just being happy with his boyfriend and daughter in the house they shared. Magnus still paused, with that little, beautiful smile, every time Madzie called him ‘papa’ and Alec was aware that the same action caused his lopsided dopey grin to appear without a fault. The girl had quickly picked up on their reactions and was using it to get away with more than she usually would and while the adults were perfectly aware of that, they were too happy not to let it slide. When Alec met with his mother, again in the coffee shop, he was still buzzing.

“You look…” Maryse searched for the word. “Cheery,” she sounded cautious and Alec could understand it, that wasn’t a word people usually used to describe him.

“I moved in with my boyfriend,” he explained. “I mean, we have kind of lived together for a month already but that was supposed to be provisional. This, this is official.” He couldn’t help but grin at that.

Maryse looked pensive for a moment before tentatively speaking, “I’d like to meet him.” At Alec’s confusion she elaborated, “Magnus. He is clearly a vital part of your life and I’ve never seen you like this I just…” she trailed off.

There was a minute of silence while Alec considered this. He understood where Maryse was coming from, wanting to meet his family, or at least the part of it Alec hadn’t banned her from. But this was new, this was precious, and Alec wasn’t sure if he was ready to share it with her. And, truth be told, there was a small part of him, that tiny part that in his teenage years had made him wonder what would it be like to be a single child, that didn't want to relinquish this one on one time with his mother. "Maybe in a few weeks?" he compromised. "Magnus has a business trip to Barcelona in a couple weeks, so this week and the next are going to be a bit busy for him." Hell, the pre-preparations for that trip already had Magnus working well into the night and up the first one in the morning... Not that Alec was grumpy about not getting his usual amount of cuddles.

"Barcelona is a very beautiful city," Maryse voice was wishful and Alec cursed himself for not having remembered that it was the city where Robert had proposed to her. He knew his parents hadn't loved each other for a very long time but once upon a time they had been in love and Barcelona represented the peak of that. "Make sure he brings you back some ham, it's delicious. Oh, and if he wants to wander he should skip the Rambles and go to Passeig de Gràcia. Though there is a Miró in the middle of the Rambles... Maybe he could do both? Will he have any time to do tourism?"

"Not much," Alec shook his head. "But I'm sure he'll find a moment to go see all the Gaudi's and maybe even a bullfight."

Maryse shot him a look of pure disappointment. "There are not bullfights in Barcelona, they were banned due to its cruelty against the bulls. He should go see some human towers if he has the time, though, those were something else."

"I'll tell him," he promised. 

"How long will he be gone?"

"Five days, he's got to make sure his new hotel is in order before the opening and then stay a couple of days for all the inaugural acts." Alec was torn between pride and his reluctant to be parted from Magnus for that long.

"I'm sure you'll survive," Maryse told him, clearly picking up on Alec's dilemma. "You'll at least have Madzie, the poor man won't see her in five days." And that was not something Alec wanted to remember. His mother must have seen his frown because she asked, "What's wrong?"

Alec hesitated before sighing, "we haven't told her, yet." He shook his head. "Madzie has some abandonment issues," he explained trying not to go into any detail. "It took her weeks to trust that I would come back to her and stop freaking out every time I left her sight for more than fifteen minutes. And then several months before she agreed to wait for me on somewhere other than our apartment where she knew I had to go back. She's come a long way since then but I'm not sure how she is going to handle Magnus leaving for almost a week."

Maryse looked pensive for a minute and Alec wondered if telling her had been the right call. There was still much to mend between them and he didn’t know how long it would take for her to win his trust back. But still, it seemed cruel to talk to her about a grandkid she wasn’t allowed to meet. “The first summer after Jace came to life with us,” she started, breaking Alec away from his thoughts. “I sent you both to that summer camp, remember?”

Alec frowned, a bit confused by the sudden change of subject. “I do, we almost got expelled thanks to the prank war Jace started.” He smiled fondly at the memory.

“I seem to recall you being the mastermind behind several of those pranks,” Maryse told him making him smirk. “But anyway, my point was that Isabelle was too young to go and she did not take that well.” Alec nodded, remembering the girl’s outbursts with a grimace. “She was completely disconsolate the first two days and Robert was on a business trip and I didn’t know how to cheer her up.” Her voice was wishful answering Alec’s question of whether or not Izzy had met with her yet. “I ended up promising that I’d help her write you a letter every night but only with the condition that she did something during the day exciting enough to be written about. It helped.”

“I remember those letters but I’m still not believing she fought a crocodile,” Alec tutted.

“She did chase a very large lizard and it was her letter, she could take some creative liberties if she wanted.” Maryse crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I’m sure that with all this new technologies letters are a bit outdated but that’s what helped me. Maybe it will work for Madzie too?”

Alec nodded. “That’s actually a pretty good idea. Thanks mom.” The word slipped without his consent and they both froze. They looked at each other awkwardly for a few moments, unsure of how to proceed.

In the end Maryse smiled. “Anytime.”

When, that night, Alec told Magnus about his mother’s idea the other man was delighted. “I’m still skyping you before Madzie goes to sleep every day but I wouldn’t mind receiving several letters. Or maybe you could help her write a journal of that week so I could read it after my return?”

“Sure.”

So, after dinner, they sat Madzie on the couch choosing to sit on the floor in front of her so their eyes were at the same level.

“Sweet Pea,” Magnus started. “I’m going to have to go on a trip in a couple of weeks.”

The girl turned her eyes at Alec. “Can we go with him?” she asked hopeful.

Alec shook his head. “I’m sorry, Madz, but I have to go to work and you have day-care.”

“Then I don’t want papa to leave!” the girl exclaimed. “He can’t, it’s better when he is here.” She stood up on the couch, crossing her arms.

Magnus took her by the shoulders, stabilizing her. “You know there’s nothing I like more than being with you and Alec,” he told her soothingly. “But I do have a job and people depend on me doing it right, I cannot let them down. Remember I told you about Raphael? This hotel will be his to direct but he needs some help setting it up and I love him so I’m going to go help him.”

“But you love me more, right papa?” Madzie protested with far more spite than Alec was expecting. “Stay.” Her tone was petulant and bossy but she opened her eyes wider and pouted, clearly trying to manipulate Magnus into obeying.

And Alec wasn’t having it. “He won’t,” he told her firmly. “Madz, Magnus is allowed to care about other things besides us, he gets to have his life, his work and his hobbies, even other people to care about. And because we love him, we have to support him, alright? And because he loves us we don’t have to be afraid because he’ll always come back.”

“But I’ll miss him,” her voice had stopped being demanding and now she just sounded desperate, reminding Alec unhappily of that fateful morning when Iris had been caught.

“And I’ll miss you,” Magnus promised, petting her hair. “Every second of every day I’m away. But it will only be five days, that’s less than a week, and I promise to call you twice a day and skype every night.”

Madzie nodded resigned, sitting down and looking deflated after her outburst. “But it’s not fair. You’ll miss so many things!”

“My mom had an idea on how to avoid that,” Alec told her. “Wanna hear it?” Madzie nodded reluctantly. “We can write a journal together so Magnus can read all that’s happened. I promise we’ll sit together every night and you can tell me what to write, okay?”

“Okay,” Madzie allowed, a bit excited despite herself. “But we’ll have to take a lot of pictures too. Because images are important! He will want to see what happened. Oh! We can ask Clary to make pretty drawings for us, right?”

Magnus looked as excited as her, “That’s a brilliant idea! You can make me a pretty collage of everything that happens each day. We can go buy the supplies before I go, I know where they sell the best glitter.”

Alec sighed, he could see clear as day how that would play out: Madzie would ask Clary for pictures and she would insist on helping with the collage and she, Jace and Izzy would invite themselves into his home every night to do handy crafts with the girl. On the bright side Madzie seemed more at ease.

“You promise you’ll come back?” she asked Magnus seriously.

Magnus nodded. “I’ll always come back to you.” Then he took off one of his many rings handling it to Madzie. “You are far more precious to me than any piece of jewelry but maybe you’ll feel surer if you keep this for me till I return?” Madzie’s eyes were opened wide while she stared at the ring. It wasn’t one of Magnus’ most extravagant accessories but the way Magnus had handled it was almost reverential. “Remember when I told you that being a foster kid was nothing to be ashamed of? That I had been one and ended getting all I wanted?” Madzie nodded her expression getting even more serious. “This ring is the proof of that. My mother never allowed herself to have anything that wasn’t useful, she lived in a world where you didn’t buy anything unless you had a very good reason to.” Alec looked at his boyfriend, surprised, he had never heard him speak of a mother, so Alec had always assumed Magnus had never met her. After all, he had heard all sorts of stories from Magnus’ time in the system, some funny, some so heartbreaking that made Alec want to burn the world down and punish anyone that had ever hurt his kind, strong, beautiful boyfriend. Magnus had told him about Ragnor, Catarina and Raphael, about Dot and Camille, about Elias and Elliot. So why hadn’t Alec heard of his mother? 

“I started working very young and I followed her philosophy, it made sense, why spend my money on ice creams or movies when I would need it to put me through college? But the thing is, college was far too expensive for me to afford, even when I had saved every dollar I made. It simply was. So, I started working in a big company, first as an errand boy but slowly making my way up. Every day I passed a jewelry store and every day I looked at that ring wanting it but knowing I could never afford it, that I would never waste my money on it. But I was lucky, one of the higher ups tried to humiliate me, giving me a project to work on that was way out of my capacities, or so he thought. I almost didn’t sleep for two weeks but I managed to get it done. The man was furious, of course, but couldn’t do anything about it so he made me do a presentation in front of the clients as a last attempt to put me in my place. That’s how I met Ragnor. He comes from old money and he was being forced to take care of the family business. He saw something in me, or maybe he was just bored, but he made me his assistant which basically meant I ended up taking over all his business so he had time to write. It also meant that I got a paycheck bigger than all I had managed to save for years. So, the next time I passed that jewelry store I actually got in and got the ring. I decided that buying something because it was pretty, because it made me happy, was a good enough reason. And I had earned that money so why wouldn’t I spend it in myself?” Magnus smiled. “This ring is the first thing I actually bought for no other reason than because I liked it so, please, take good care of it till I return.”

Madzie nodded trying to put it on. “It’s too big for me,” she noted.

“We can put it on a chain, you’ll be able to wear it around your neck,” Alec suggested looking at Magnus for approval.

“That’s a great idea,” the man said. “We’ll look for one tomorrow.”

Later that night, when Madzie was already sleeping, and they were getting ready for bed, Alec told Magnus, “I did not know that.”

Magnus looked at him confused. “Yes, you did. I mean, maybe not about the ring but I told you how I met Ragnor.”

“Not that part,” Alec corrected. “I didn’t know about your mother’s… well, anything. You’ve never mentioned her before.”

“Ah,” Magnus face darkened. “That.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Alec sat on the bed, his back resting against the pillows while he watched his boyfriend remove his makeup.

“I want to,” Magnus told him. “It’s just not a particularly happy story.”

Alec nodded and waited in silence until Magnus had finished his routine and joined him on the bed. When Magnus lied down, Alec imitated him and held him closer when he turned off the light.

“I was conceived through rape. A very violent rape,” Magnus whispered and Alec tightened his grip on his waist. “My mother would have loved to pretend I was his husband’s but she never could because I was born with the exact same eyes that had looked at her with lust and cruelty during the most terrible day of her life.” Magnus was trembling but seemed unaware of it so Alec just pressed a kiss between his shoulder blades. “She usually avoided me, but there were some days she forced herself to be a mother and she would sing to me and play with me. That actually made it worse because every time I hoped it would last and when it didn’t I always wondered why. Was it something I had done? Would she ever hug me again? In retrospective I can see my mother wanted to love me but she was never able to forgive me.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” Alec’s voice was also a whisper but not any less firm.

“I know that, Alexander. It took me a while to get it but I do,” Magnus reassured him, turning around to show him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “And I think my mother knew that too, rationally, which is why she tried sometimes. Why she felt guilty every day she had to life with me. But even when it wasn’t my fault she still had to wake up every morning and relive the horror she had lived when she looked at my face. And by the time I was nine she had gotten so tired of the daily struggle her life had become that she decided to end it.”

“Magnus, I’m so sorry.” Alec rested his forehead against his boyfriend’s.

“I was the one who found her body,” Magnus flinched, the memory of his mother’s dead eyes had never faded from his mind, “but her husband found the note she had left explaining why she'd done it.” Alec tightened his grip on Magnus. “I never read it, he ripped it into pieces the minute he was done reading, but I can imagine what it said.” And so could Alec given the bitterness on Magnus’ voice. “He yelled at me, he called me an abomination. And I was so angry, so upset. I started breaking everything I could while he called me a child-monster. He physically restrained me and locked me up in my room until the police came to retrieve my mother’s corpse. Then he let me out only to give me over to them, telling them that he had no obligation nor intention to raise me and that either they took me or I’d be living on the streets.”

“He was a bastard.” Alec hid his face in Magnus’ neck. “You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“I know,” Magnus nodded. “It still hurts though. I just, I hated him so much in that moment. I would have killed him if I had the power, I wanted to hurt him. Maybe he was right when he said I was no different from my father.”

“You were just a child, a traumatized child that was lashing out,” Alec breathed. “And if wanting to kill people was a crime, I would be serving several life sentences by now.” Magnus giggled at his stupid joke. “I mean it, people are annoying.”

“Except for me, right?”

“You are not people,” Alec confided. “You are way too good for that. And I know this doesn’t change anything but I think your eyes are beautiful. I think you’re beautiful.”

Magnus smiled at him. “Just, please, hold me tonight?”

“Always.”

Alec had been right when he had predicted that his apartment would be taken over using ‘craft nights’ as an excuse. Madzie had decided that the way to go was making posters bigger than her with drawings, photos and so much glitter (‘Papa likes glitter, dad! Do you not want papa to like my posters?’). He decided to just give up, allowing his siblings and friends into their home every night (why was that Simon guy invited, again?) and clean after they had all left. It was exhausting. He had forgotten how tiring the single parent thing was, after all, Magnus had acted like the girl’s father for a couple of months already.

Izzy’s expression had been completely blank when Alec had told her where the idea of the collages had come from. “I don’t know what to do,” she confessed to him a while later defiance and nostalgia mixing in her voice.

“You don’t need to do anything,” Alec told her. “If you don’t want to forgive her that’s okay.”

“But should I?”

“There’s no should. Do you want to or not?” Izzy looked over the collages, pensively. “For what it’s worth, she is really trying with me, I don’t think she’ll be falling back on her old ways.”

“She won’t,” Jace assured them, having left Madzie to be entertained by Maia and Lydia. “She is actually sorry and has said so, several times. I don’t think I had ever heard her apologize before so she must mean it.” He shook his head. “But that’s her, just because she is trying now doesn’t mean you have to let her back in.”

Izzy took a deep breath before turning towards Alec. “Can I go with you next week? You meet her on Wednesdays, right? I’m not ready to face her on my own.”

“I’ll go with you,” Alec promised. “But can we do it some other time? It’s just, I never had that one on one time with her. I like it and…”

“You can both come with us next week,” Jace interrupted them. “I told her I’d take her to Clary’s exposition, we can all go together.”

“Sure,” Izzy smiled. “It’d probably be less awkward than sitting face to face in a coffee shop anyway.”

To say Maryse was surprised to see Izzy would be an understatement. When she saw her arrive with Alec she took a step towards them, stopping abruptly a second later, not sure if her daughter wanted to see her or not. She stood with Jace waiting for them to approach her and when they did she couldn’t contain her smile.

“Isabelle,” she breathed, almost a prayer.

And Izzy, who had chosen one of her most revealing outfits in an attempt to test her, felt most of her anger leaving. “Hi, mom.”

The four of them stood there in awkward silence for a couple of seconds.

“Where’s Madz?” Jace asked trying to defuse the tension.

Alec and Maryse grimaced in synchrony. Rolling his eyes at his brother, the man answered, “With Lydia, I think Maia is with them too.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

The silence that followed was even more uncomfortable than the first.

“Clary is calling me,” Jace said sounding far too relieved before running to his girlfriend’s side.

“Coward,” muttered Alec. He turned towards the two women and sighed. “How’s work?” he asked hopefully.

Isabelle rolled her eyes at him. “It’s okay.”

“I wouldn’t call being the best pathologist in New York just okay.” Maryse told her daughter. “You are doing a fantastic job.”

“Well, you know it doesn’t save lives like other branches of medicine,” Izzy threw her mother’s past words back to her.

“Of course it saves lives,” Maryse scoffed. “Without you the police wouldn’t be able to do their jobs. And not just the police, the judges and juries too. The other day Judge Herondale was talking about how having you as a witness makes her confident that the proof she’s being presented is solid and reliable. I can’t imagine how many criminals would be free and hurting people if it wasn’t for you.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I wasn’t supportive of your career of choice and I hope you know I’m proud of you.” Her tone was a bit artificial and far too formal but the way she looked at her daughter screamed honesty.

Izzy allowed herself a tiny smile. “Would you like to have lunch with me someday? We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“I would love to.”

The two women smiled at each other for a moment. “I should go find Clary, too, congratulate her.”

“Of course, I assume you have my number?” Izzy nodded. “Then call me whenever you want to set a date for our lunch.”

Alec smiled seeing her sister leave. He hadn’t lied at Izzy when he had told her whether she forgave Maryse or not was her choice and that he’d stand by her side either way but he couldn’t help but to be happy that they were taking a step towards reconciliation.

Magnus came back a day earlier than he had planned. Alec and Madzie were reading, already finishing the third Harry Potter book, and they didn’t hear him enter. So when a voice behind his ear told Alec, “I can believe you read her the Sirius Black reveal without me, I should break up with you instantly,” he jumped. Madzie also jumped but she did so in a more efficient manner, towards Magnus’ neck, hugging him tight.

“Sweet Pea,” whispered Magnus, tightening his hold on the girl. “I’ve missed you so much.” He kissed her forehead causing the girl giggle. “Have you grown? I mean, I know it’s been less than a week but you seem taller.” Madzie preened at that, kissing Magnus’ check.

“Your ring!” Madzie remembered, tugging at the chain she wore around her neck. “It’s safe and sound,” she announced proudly.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Magnus’ hand raised, stopping Madzie who was valiantly fighting with the chain and helped her untangle it from her hair. “Maybe you should keep it, then, to ensure it keeps being safe.”

Madzie’s eyes grew big as plates. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Magnus nodded. “Now, I was promised crafted goods?”

Madzie nodded frantically. “I’ve made you so many collages,” she explained proudly. “And they have lots of glitter.”

“So why don’t you go get them?” Magnus prompted, lowering her to the ground. Madzie nodded and ran to her room.

“Hi, Alexander.” Magnus leaned in for a kiss but Alec teasingly jerked back.

“So now you remember me? A few seconds ago you only had eyes for my daughter.” Alec winked at him, least he took him seriously, and Magnus huffed.

“Jealousy doesn’t become you, darling,” he said trying to kiss him again.

“You sure about that? You seem pretty set on kissing me,” Alec teased, taking his hand and linking their fingers.

Magnus let out a another frustrated huff. “That’s because I haven’t been able to do so in four days, four days, Alexander! I may actually die if I have to wait a second longer.”

“Well, we can’t have that,” Alec agreed. “Madzie would miss you.” And before Magnus could answer he leaned in, finally kissing his man. It wasn’t a very good kiss given that either of them couldn’t stop smiling for the duration of it.

“I really did miss you,” Magnus whispered when they parted, their lips still so close that Alec could feel the turbulence in the air caused for his words.

“I missed you too,” he confessed back. “I’ve missed you like hell.”

Magnus smiled, kissing him again, this time with more heat. Of course, that was when Madzie’s voice made them separate. “Papa come sit with me on the couch,” she asked anxiously holding her creations.

Alec tugged Magnus towards the girl, sitting down beside her and making Magnus fall so close by his side he was almost on his lap. Magnus smiled, using their joined hands to adjust Alec’s arm over his shoulders and leaned towards him while listening to Madzie’s (not quite) truthful account of everything that had happened when he was gone.

That night it took them an hour and several stories to get their girl to sleep. When they finally managed they were exhausted but refused to go to bed, both starving for some in person conversation.

“I thought you wouldn’t be back till tomorrow,” Alec told him, not hiding how delighted he was that his plans had changed.

“Yeah, me too. Luckily Raphael is scarily competent and today at lunch he told me that he had it all under control and that if he had to listen to me pining for a second longer he’d commit homicide.” Magnus laughed.

“I think I could become very good friends with him,” his boyfriend commented.

“Yeah, you would.” Magnus smiled. “So, anything happened here on your end? Something Madzie didn’t cover already, that’s it.”

“Not much,” Alec answered. “Well, I went to Clary’s exposition with my siblings and my mom. I think Izzy is having lunch with her this week.”

“I hope you know you’re still going with me to the exposition to show biscuit my support.” Alec nodded, amused, but Magnus seemed to sense something was wrong because he asked, “are you worried about Iz?”

“Maybe a bit,” he confessed. “And about my mom too. They love each other but they both have very strong personalities. I don’t want them to clash and get hurt when everything is so fragile.”

“Look, they will argue eventually, everyone does, but they are both tough and smart, I reckon they’ll be fine,” Magnus told him soothingly.

“Yeah, I know you’re right,” Alec nodded. “I still worry, though.” He smiled at his boyfriend who smiled back.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Alec playing with his boyfriend’s rings while they both basked in each other’s company. Magnus was the first to break the silence. “Does your mother still want to meet me?”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded. “We have an open invitation for dinner at her house.”

“Maybe we should take it,” Magnus proposed.

So later that week, after having dropped Madzie off on a suspiciously convenient girl’s night at Izzy’s, Magnus and Alec arrived at Maryse’s house.

“This is not a house, this is a mansion,” Magnus whispered when they got out of the car. Alec winced embarrassed like he always was when someone remarked on his family wealth.

“It’s been the Lightwood’s residence for generations,” he explained, opening the door for Magnus to get out of the car. “We are one of those old families from old, probably not clean, money. You knew that.”

Magnus nodded, still astounded. “And your mother got it in the divorce? I thought heirlooms of the other side would be hard to get.”

“Mom represented herself,” Alec confided with a bit of spiteful amusement on his voice. “I’m surprised dad managed to keep the clothes he was wearing.” At Magnus’ expression he elaborated, “he is still filthy rich but now mom is significantly richer. She also got everything that meant something to her and this is the house where we were raised.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Alright,” Magnus said slowly. “Then lead the way, I’m starting to get cold.”

Maryse opened the door for them with a bottle of wine and three glasses which she awkwardly offered them once they were inside. “I hear you like to drink,” she told Magnus before wincing and Alec sighed, well, his social fallings had had to come out of somewhere, he supposed.

Luckily Magnus must have realized how nervous Maryse was and decided not to take the comment on something she hadn’t meant. “I do know how to appreciate a good merlot.” He smiled kindly at her. “And can I say you have a lovely house?”

“Thanks,” Maryse smiled. “Though it is a bit too big for just me and the commute to work is so long. I’m thinking of finding a place closer to the centre of the city.”

“Well, if you need any help I do know a thing or two about real estate,” Magnus offered.

“Thanks,” Maryse smiled. “And of course if you and Alec ever need a quieter place to stay, I have plenty room here and the gardens are pretty great.” Maryse seemed to want to add something else and Alec was sure that it related at how fun exploring a house this big was for children but she pointed towards the dinner instead. “I hope you two are hungry because I may have overdone it with the food.” Magnus’ expression held the slightest of changes but Maryse caught it. “Oh don’t worry, I may not have been able to teach my kids how to cook anything edible but I’m pretty good myself.”

“She’s amazing,” Alec confirmed. “You should try her enchiladas, they are amazing.”

His mother smiled. “He will have the opportunity now, hope they don’t disappoint.”

They sat on the table in a not entirely comfortable silence and Maryse served Magnus first. The food was, like Alec had predicted, quite good, and the praising of it made for conversation the first fifty minutes. “So tell me more about yourself,” Maryse prompted Magnus when there was nothing left to comment about. “Do you have siblings?”

Magnus shook his head, “I’m sadly an only child though I do have friends close enough to be considered family.” At Maryse’s encouragement he continued. “Well, there’s Raphael, I met him during my years in foster care and he is the closest to a little brother that I’ve ever had. Of course, being an older brother himself, Raphael doesn’t quite see it like that.” He chuckled. “And Catarina, she is a natural caretaker, and as such, is always crossed at me for not taking enough care of myself, though since Alec and I started dating she has gotten a bit off my back. In her words: ‘that boyfriend of yours is competent enough to look after you and I’m a very busy woman.’ Which, coming from her, is a glowing praise on Alexander’s character.”

“Oh, I know and I’m thrilled.” Alec smiled genuinely. “She is a very scary woman,” he explained to his mother.

“She does sound impressive,” Maryse allowed. “Not a lot of people intimidate my son.” She smiled fondly at Alec.

“She is,” Magnus nodded. “Oh and there’s Ragnor, he’s a writer. A bitter, snappy, extravagant writer.”

Maryse’s eyes widened. “Ragnor? Ragnor Fell?” she exclaimed. When Magnus nodded she almost shrieked. Well, she let her mouth drop open a bit but coming from her, that was as good praise. “He is my favourite author. I mean I hate him, that cliff-hanger in his last book! How dare he leave me like that?” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait, do you…”

Magnus quickly shook his head. “No and I’ve tried everything from bribery to blackmail to get him to tell me. The man is a tomb when he wants to be.”

Alec smiled, Magnus could complain about Ragnor for hours and if his mother loathed anything, it was not being in control and in the known, which made her despise her favourite thriller author as much as she loved his work.  Predictably, the rest of the evening flew them by while they discussed books and infuriating authors and when they parted, it was with a  smile and a promise to meet again sometime next week.

After that Magnus started joining Alec sometimes when he met her in the coffee shop and, while him and Maryse were nowhere as close as he was with Alec's siblings, they seemed to be getting along well enough. Especially when Maryse was breaking out the embarrassing childhood stories, because apparently Jace predilection for humiliating him was a hereditary trait.

Seeing Maryse get along with someone she would have deemed as an inferior a year prior, was also helping Izzy realize that she had actually changed. Their relationship was still a bit rocky but seemed to be recovering at a surprisingly fast speed. So it was not a surprise when a bit over a month later Alec witnessed the turning point in their reconciliation.

He was walking with Jace when they crossed paths with their mother. "Mom," Alec exclaimed surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Maryse rolled her eyes. "Alec, these are the courts, I work here."

Alec blushed which made Jace snort. "I meant if you have a trial now," he corrected, elbowing his brother.

"No, I've actually just finished," the judge explained. "What are you two doing here together? You haven't jumped into criminal law, have you?" she asked and Alec smiled realizing she was trying to keep all the judgment out of her voice.

"Nah, we are here to see Iz testify," Jace explained buzzing with excitement.

"You do this every time one of you has to go to court?" Maryse raised an eyebrow at them.

Alec snorted. "If we did we would have to live here. I mean a lawyer, a cop and a forensic. All we’re missing is a judge," he said smiling at his mother. "But Jace had a free afternoon and this is one of his cases so he wanted to come see how it was going like the obsessive freak he always accuses me of being, and I tagged along."

"Yeah, because Magnus has taken Madzie on a fashion day and they told you it's funnier without you." Jace cruelly reminded him. "So you would be mopping in your apartment otherwise."

"I would not!"

"Boys," Maryse interrupted them with an amused smile. "I'm pretty sure you'll be late if you don't get going." She bit her lip. "Do you think Isabelle would mind if I came to watch her too?"

"I don't know," Alec answered honestly, he knew their lunches were going well, or well enough that they were both willing to repeat the experience week after week, but he didn’t know if Izzy was there yet. "But if we hurry we'll make it before it starts and you can ask her."

Maryse nodded and the three of them made their, somewhat awkward, way towards the assigned room. Like Alec had predicted they arrived early and they could see Izzy still outside, arguing with the prosecutor taking the case. "What's going on?" Maryse asked and Alec grimaced recognizing the icy disapproving tone of his voice. This time, though, it was not addressed towards him or his siblings but towards the bald guy that was arguing with Izzy.

"Judge Lightwood," he said, his voice sickeningly sweet and respectful. "I was just telling my main expert that she should have dressed according to the occasion." He sent an unappreciative glare towards Isabelle's tight red dress that made Jace and Alec close their fists.

The woman opened her mouth to answer but her mother was faster. "And what exactly is wrong with what she is wearing?" she asked, pursing her lips. Her children exchanged looks, stunned.

"It's distracting! How am I, the other lawyers or the part of the jury composed by men, supposed to concentrate with her dressed like that?"

"If a beautiful woman showing a bit of skin is enough to make you lose your focus you are  weakly minded, unprofessional man with less self-control than a monkey," Maryse told him calmly. Jace snickered by Alec’s side but he was too shocked to notice. "My daughter is the best forensic in New York city, if her work is going to be undermined by your ineptitude I need to know so I can express my deepest concerns to the DA."

"That won't be necessary ma'am," the man promised, face flushed in shame. "I should... I... maybe..."

"You should go do your job because Judge Herondale doesn't like being kept waiting." Maryse pointed towards the door and the man almost tripped over himself to obey. "I'm sorry," the woman said, looking straight towards Izzy who still seemed in shock. "For ever saying and thinking that the fact that some hormone-driven morons were incapable of being competent and professional was your fault."

Isabelle opened her mouth to say that it was okay but then she closed it. It hadn't been okay and it had hurt so much. But Maryse was trying and that apology was sincere. "Thanks," she settled in and she meant it. She didn’t needed her validation, had stopped hoping for it years ago, but it felt nice to have it either way. "And thank you for protecting me, mama." Her voice was small and a bit shy.

"Thank you for letting me protect you, we both know you could have handled that bug blindfolded," Maryse answered. "I wanted to ask if it's okay I come watch you testify. If it's going to interfere with your job I won't, of course."

"No, I'd like that," she admitted. She turned towards her brothers, Jace was beaming at her and Alec was sporting a shy, hopeful smile while looking at their mother in a way he hadn't in years. "I should go inside," she added with a smile of her own. "See you later."

Maryse was about to follow her inside when a hand on her elbow stopped her. "Wait, we should take a selfie," Jace said, causing Alec to roll his eyes. "Come on, I want to post it on twitter," he pouted and Alec sighed.

"Fine," he said allowing Jace to put an arm on his shoulders and placing his arm on their mother's waist. To his surprise Maryse allowed it and even posed with them. He rolled his eyes while Jace fiddled with his mobile posting the picture with the hashtags #ajudgealawyerandacopenteracourtroom, #andtheywatchtheirgirlkickass and #GOIZZY he had also tagged them all. Alec was so busy smiling at the picture that it took him by surprise when the notification of a retwitted arrived. It was Maryse's account, usually reserved to announce events or post news, and she had added #PROUDMAMA, #GIRLPOWER and #bondingwithmyboys. He raised his eyes to meet Jace's whose smile had gotten even bigger. Maryse was already entering the courtroom, clearly not wanting to comment on it.

"Maryse understands hashtags better than you do," his brother pointed out in a clear deflection.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Alec grunted. "Maybe we should follow her in or we'll end up missing the trial."

Later that day, after Alec had pretended to sulk for enough time to ensure that his boyfriend and daughter would consider taking him with them next time they went shopping, Alec told Magnus what had happened.

"I can't believe anyone would have a problem with the way your sister dresses," Magnus huffed offended. 

"I don't think her fashion sense was what that attorney had an issue with," his boyfriend dryly pointed out.

"Yeah, that guy was a raging misogynist," Magnus agreed easily. "But are you sure he wasn't also blind?"

"Yes, Magnus, I'm sure," Alec chuckled amused.

The older man blinked, incredulous. "Well, either way, it was very nice of your mother to intervene."

"Yeah," Alec agreed. "She used to be the one tearing Izzy down for her clothes."

"And now she is defending her and apologizing," Magnus gently pointed out. "People can change and she is trying really hard to prove herself."

And it was true, it had been months since that fateful night were Maryse had come knocking on his door and she hadn't slipped up even once. She had been supportive and she had systematically adapted her whole world view in order to be so. She had learned and she had won Alec's trust back a bit each week. "I think I want her to meet Madzie," he confessed to Magnus.

The man’s expression grew more serious. "Our Madzie?" he asked his tone emotionless.

Alec looked at him surprised. "Yeah?  What other Madzie do you know?" he asked hoping for a smile.

He did not get it. "Are you sure?"

"Magnus," Alec crossed his arms. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said in that loathed nonchalant tone he used when he was nervous, upset or mad and trying to hide it from Alec. "I think it's a bit too soon, that's all."

"Too soon?" Alec made an effort not to raise his voice, aware Madzie was sleeping in the next room. "It's been months. Months of her knowing she has a grandkid she isn't allowed to meet. It was necessary in the beginning but it's starting to get cruel." Magnus huffed in disagreement. "And where did all that 'people can change' rhetoric go? Did you not mean it?" And that actually scared Alec more than anything else, he trusted Magnus, he trusted his judgment, if he had only been telling him what he wanted to hear...

"Of course I meant it!" Magnus shouted. Alec brought a finger to his lips, gesturing with his head toward the wall they shared with the girl. "I meant it. I truly believe she is trying and that she loves you. But what if I'm wrong?" Magnus asked, distressed. "It’d be bad enough that I encouraged you to get your heart broken by her again, and to drag your siblings along for it. But you three are adults and you've got your life together. You'd understand it's not your fault. But Madzie... Madz is just a kid, a kid with far too abandonment issues already. We can't risk it."

"Magnus," Alec tried in a calmer voice. "I make my own choices and so do my siblings, none of us went into this blinded and you encouraging me doesn't change that, no matter what."  He waited until Magnus reluctantly nodded. "And if I wasn't sure about my mother I wouldn't be suggesting this. She is my daughter, I'd never endanger her heart."

"I know," Magnus told him quickly. "But she is my daughter too, isn't she? I'm allowed to get a bit overprotective." He sighed. "I do trust your mom, Alec, and I do like her. But I've been wrong about people changing before and I don't want her to suffer for it. Or you."

"But that's why we compared her behavior to Camille's," Alec reminded him patiently. "She acknowledged her mistakes without prompting and doesn't want us to 'forget and forgive' and she is actively changing, showing it by actions and not words, and..."

"I know I'm being unfair, that your mother isn't Camile." Magnus nodded. "But it's my little girl we are talking about. I need to be a hundred percent sure nothing bad will happen to her."

"I know. And if it's too soon for you, we can wait." Alec smiled at him, reaching out to take his hand. "Mom would understand."

There was a minute of silence before the other man spoke, "No." He shook his head. "I think it will always be too soon for me, and you are right, regardless of how I feel about this situation I do trust your mother and believe she has changed." He said decidedly. "We could have her over for dinner? So Madzie can meet her somewhere she feels comfortable."

And that settled it. However, that night Alec had trouble sleeping. Something about his almost argument with Magnus bothered him and until he realized what it was, he did not manage to fall asleep.

Madzie was thrilled about the prospect of meeting her grandmother. "Can I wear the yellow dress? And can you do Lyd's braid in my hair?" she immediately asked Alec. "I look pretty with that, right?"

"You look pretty with anything because you are pretty," Magnus quickly told her, making the girl roll her eyes with a pleased blush on her cheeks. "But yes, the yellow dress is very beautiful and I'm pretty sure Alexander will braid your hair however you like."

"I will," Alec nodded. "But she isn't coming today, Madz, we were asking you if it's okay we invite her over some night this week."

"You could invite her today, though," pouted the girl. "It's not fair I'm the only one who doesn't know her."

And Alec had never realize that that was something that bothered the girl. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to make sure she was nice before you met her."

Madzie rolled her eyes, again. "I know," she drawled. "But now that you know, why do I have to wait? Can't she make it tonight?"

"I can ask," allowed Alec.

Maryse could actually made it that night. Or well, she probably couldn't but had no qualms about cancelling whatever plans she had previously made to go meet her granddaughter, especially when Alec told her how eager the girl had been. In fact she arrived half an hour early and spent a good ten minutes walking around the block trying to pass the time. Luckily for her the doorman remembered her face so the fifth time she paused in front of the door hesitantly before walking away, he called Magnus instead of the police.

"Mom, you can come up, if you want," Alec told her as soon as she picked up the phone.

" _ I don't know what you are talking about," _  Maryse said stuffily.

"Just come up," Alec replied rolling his eyes.

By his side Madzie fixed her dress nervously. "She's arriving now?" Alec nodded before gesturing that he was going down to fetch her, still arguing over the phone. "Okay," she said. "Okay." She took a deep steadying breath.

"Everything alright, Sweet Pea?" Magnus said kneeling in front of her.

"Yeah," Madzie answered with a too bright smile. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, sometimes people get nervous," he told her sweetly. "I know I was before meeting her."

"Really? But why? Everybody likes you," the girl commented factually.

"Oh, you'd be surprise about how little some people like me." Magnus shook his head. "But that's on them, because I'm amazing. And so are you and Maryse will like you a lot."

"Yeah?" Madzie asked shyly. "It just... If she doesn't... Dad loves her really much."

"And he loves you even more," he quickly made it clear. "It's okay to be nervous but you don't need to be. She already loves you."

"But she hasn't even met me, yet!" The girl looked at him with suspicion.

"Madz, everyone who has talked with your dad for over five minutes knows you a bit. The man talks about you a lot." Magnus gestured around, exemplifying just how much 'a lot' meant and the girl giggled. "And you are her granddaughter, that means something to her." Madzie nodded but still looked unsure. "Do you wanna know a secret?" he waited until the girl made an affirmative sound. "She's probably more nervous than you are."

Madzie was going to answer but the door opening interrupted her. When she saw Alec enter with Maryse in tow, she took a step towards Magnus, who was standing up, and took his hand. "Hi," she smiled shyly.

Maryse looked frozen, drinking the side of the girl with a look of almost awe. "Hi," she replied at last, her voice softer than Alec had ever heard it. "You've grown a lot since I last saw you."

Madzie nodded. "I eat all my vegetables," she told her proudly.

"So did Alec and look at him now." Maryse pointed at her son with pride. "And I'm assuming so did Magnus."

The man smiled at her. "I did." There was an awkward silence until he spoke again. "I've been meaning to thank you, Maryse, for that idea of the collages for my week in Barcelona. It made leaving those two far more bearable."

At that Madzie's eyes shone and Alec looked at Magnus with such gratefulness the man almost blushed. "I did a lot of work so he wouldn't miss anything," the girl told Maryse beaming. "Want to see it?"

The woman nodded. "I would love nothing more."

Madzie let go of Magnus' hand, starting to head towards the study before pausing. She looked at Maryse who was carefully following her and her expression grew decided. She walked back, straight towards Maryse who had paused when she had and took her hand. The woman's breath hitched. "It's okay to be nervous," she assured her. "I am too but we are both cool so it'll be alright."

Maryse laughed at that. "You are very wise, Madzie."

"That's just what papa told me," the girl said bashfully.

"Then he is really wise too." Maryse send a grateful look towards the man who smiled back.

He gestured towards the kitchen. "I should go make sure dinner is ready, do you mind if I take Alec to keep me company?" his question was addressed to Maryse but he let his eyes fall on Madzie to ensure she was fine with it.

"Okay," Madzie said and tugged Maryse towards her collages.

Once they were both out of sight Alec turned towards his boyfriend. "You sure about letting them both alone?" he asked.

"No, but I trust them and it'll be probably less awkward this way," he answered with a shaky smile.

"Alright," Alec said and kissed him lightly before letting himself be pulled towards the kitchen.

In the study Madzie was telling Maryse what each collage represented with excruciating detail as well as anything, funny or not, that had happened during its creation. She was in the middle of a very colorful recount of how Jace had almost ended up having to shave his hair because of glue related issues when she stopped mid-sentence.

"What's the matter?" Maryse asked her, laughter still on her voice.

"You won't hurt dad again, right? Or Uncle Jace and Auntie Izzy?" she asked anxiously.

All traces of happiness left Maryse face but she did not hide it behind his usually blank mask. "I won't," she promised beyond serious. "And I will do whatever I can to make up for hurting them before."

Madzie nodded. "That's okay then, I really don't like seeing dad sad. Even if papa and I are very good at cheering him up." And with that being said she launched back on the story. Maryse’s attention did not waver but her face did not recover the mirth that it had had before Madzie's intermission. When, after two of her most hilarious stories, Madzie saw that the woman was not lightening up, she paused again. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Seeing that the girl was looking quite crestfallen Maryse rushed to reassure her, "You didn't upset me, I did." She looked away, ashamed. "I made so many mistakes with your dad, it's a miracle he still talks to me at all."

"But mistakes are alright," Madzie told her with a frown. "Dad says they are cool because you can learn from them. I do it all the time. And he does it too. And you're learning, dad said so, that means you're smart."

There was so much brightness in her stare that Maryse decided not to tell her that there were different types of mistakes and that some were far harder to live with than others. "I suppose I am learning, yes," she said instead. Then she turned her attention back to the collages. "Tell me about that one," she asked.

When Alec came to fetch them Madzie had just ended her explanation and she jumped on his arms, making him pick her up. "Can Grandma sit by my side for dinner?"

Maryse froze. "Grandma?" she repeated slowly.

"Well, I already have a Nana but she had to go life far, far away, so you have to be Grandma," the girl explained. Maryse and Alec shared a hard look that Madzie misinterpreted. "Don't you like it?"

"Oh no, I do, I really do," Maryse told her with a smile. "But only if you like it too."

Madzie rolled her eyes. "Duh, I said it first."

"Madz, what have we told you about saying 'duh' to people?" Alec raised an eyebrow at her.

"Papa does it," she protested.

"Papa is a grownup," Alec countered.

"Ugh, fine. I won't say it again." Madzie pouted. "But it's unfair." She turned towards Maryse, batting her eyelashes. "Isn't it?"

"I pledge the fifth." Maryse winked at her.

Far later, once Maryse had already head back home and Madzie had been tucked in bed,  Magnus commented on their day. "That went well."

"Yeah, yeah it did." Alec shifted nervously from one foot to the other trying to bring up the thing that had been bothering him since last night. "I wanted to talk to you about Madzie."

"Okay..." said Magnus confused taking a seat on the couch and gesturing Alec to do the same.

"Well, you know we are all living together now, we have for months, and she calls you papa and, well, she really loves you."  Alec started, closing and opening his fits nervously.

Magnus smiled brightly. "And I really love her. Our daughter is extremely lovable.” And there it was again.

"But that's the thing, she isn't our daughter, she is mine," he blurted out what he had been thinking since the first time Magnus had referred to Madzie as such.

A flash of hurt passed through Magnus' face. "I see."

"No! No, no, no, no! That's not what I meant. At all," Alec tried to rectify, taking his boyfriend's hand and gently kissing his knuckles. "Of course she is your daughter. That's my whole point." Magnus relaxed a bit, looking puzzled but no longer wounded. "Would you like to adopt her?" Alec said looking straight into his golden eyes. Magnus mouth dropped open a little but he said nothing. "I mean I know it's just a formality, because like I said she is your daughter already, I just thought that maybe you'd want to. It's okay if you don't. Just, can you please say something before I completely freak out?"

"Pretty sure we are already past that point, darling," Magnus tried to tease but his tone was adoring and that awed smile was gracing his lips again. "I won't lie and say I haven't thought about it but are you sure? I need you to be sure."

"Of course I'm sure, you are raising her as much as I am and even if something were to happen between us,” he tightened his grip on Magnus' hand to reassure him that it was not something he expected, "I would still want you to be a part of her life. She would still need you."

"As I would need her," Magnus agreed. "Of course nothing is going to happen between us but I'd like to make her officially mine." He smiled and, not for the first time, it left Alec breathless. "If she wants, we can go get the papers tomorrow."

"She will," promised Alec and then he smiled sheepishly. "And I kind of already have the papers, I was going to give them to you for your birthday but then I realized that gifting you my daughter was kind of creepy and that I needed to actually ask if it was something you wanted instead of just assuming it." He grimaced making Magnus chuckle.

"I do appreciate the gesture, though." Magnus laughed. "But don't think this leaves you off the hook, you'll still get me a present."

"Anything you want." Alec promised with a smile.

"I kind of already have everything I want," Magnus confessed with a grimace.

"Yeah?" Alec smiled. "So do I."

It was funny how life worked, wasn't it? A year before he only had his job and his siblings and that was about it. Now? Now he had an adorable daughter, an amazing boyfriend and had just gotten his mother back. Yeah, life was funny and unpredictable and messy and Alec was beyond grateful for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there will be an epilogue and the plan is to post it next Friday. I should be able to make it unless it grows leggs and starts running from me transforming from the sweet short thing I'm planning into an almost full chapter. So will see.
> 
> Did you like the chapter? How rude was that DA? Did you enjoy Maryse putting him on his place? Tell me anything in the comments, they sustain me (like and oatmeal).


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little something set a bit on the future, I hope you like it.

Alec looked around, it had been almost a year and a half since he had found Madzie in this same coffee shop. So much had changed since then… And he hoped that even more things would change soon.

“Mom, I was wondering,” he started, resisting the urge to fidget, “after the divorce, did you keep all the jewelry dad had given you?”

“Do you often think of my jewelry?” Maryse asked, letting Alec stammer for an answer while she took a sip of her all black coffee. “But yes, I did, I figured that it was the least I deserved after what he put me through.”

Alec remained silent for a moment, hoping she was going to ask him why he was asking or offer the information he wanted on her own but his mother’s smirk told him that that wasn’t going to happen. “I see,” he cleared his throat, “then maybe I could have the Lightwood’s family ring?”

“I don’t think it’s your style,” Maryse tutted, her smirk widening.

“No, it isn’t, but I think…” Alec stopped himself, reconsidering. “Well, I’m hoping that maybe it could be Magnus’?” he ended with a shy smile.

Maryse pretended to ponder the question to make her son nervous before she reached down to grab her bag. She opened it and took a jewelry box out of it before handing it to Alec. “You really took your time. I’ve been carrying it around for over a month waiting for you to ask me.” Alec spluttered. “Oh come on, you two are raising a child together, at this point the wedding is just a formality, did you really expect me to be surprised?”

“You’re right.. We are a little married already, aren’t we?” Alec chuckled not caring to hide the pure bliss in his tone. “Anyway, Magnus does love a party and I… I love  _ him _ , so I think there’s going to be a wedding anyway.”

“I’m glad,” Maryse told him smiling softly. “Alec, I’m so proud of you,” she started, putting down her mug. “I’m proud of everything you are, everything you’ve become, and of everything you’ve achieved. But most of all I’m proud of how you’ve fought for love. And I’m so sorry I was one of the things you had to fight against, I should have been by your side, ready to act if you needed me. Not that you would have.” She chuckled, her eyes watery. “I’m just really happy you get to have a daughter who adores you and a husband who loves you more than anything. You deserve it, especially after everything you’ve had to overcome.”

“Mom, you are ruining both of our reputations,” Alec joked, his eyes shining like Maryse’s. “And he hasn’t said yes yet.”

“He will.” There was no doubt in her voice. “And just let me say one more thing, now that we are already having an emotional scene in a public setting.” Alec sighed longsuffering but nodded with a smile. “I love you, Alec.”

“I love you too, mom.”

The ring burned in his pocket on the way back home and Alec couldn’t help but wonder how on earth would he manage not to ask Magnus the minute he saw him. He was so lost in his thoughts that it took him several seconds to realize that the apartment was eerily quiet. “Magnus? Madzie?”

“In the living room,” he heard Magnus call him. He headed towards it and was surprised by the sight of a blanket fort, quiet similar to the one they had built with Madzie that first night of (un)officially living together. The lights were dimmed but not enough to hide Magnus’ face that looked uncharacteristically nervous. Alec was still trying to understand what was happening when Magnus kneeled on the floor.

“No! I mean, yes,” Alec corrected before Magnus’ hopeful smile disappeared. “Of course I’ll marry you but c’mon! I just got my family ring to propose to you. You couldn’t let me have this?”

“Well, I can always stop since I haven’t actually asked you yet,” Magnus mussed still kneeling. He was positively beaming though so Alec didn’t quite believe him. Either way he decided to diffuse that line of thought immediately.

“I mean, you are already kneeling,” Alec pointed out helpfully. “And you’re wearing your best pants, it would be a pity you had risked them getting ruined over nothing.”

“You do have a point, they were quite expensive,” Magnus agreed easily. “And make my ass look particularly good.” Alec made an approving sound that turned into an exasperated groan when Magnus shook his head. “But I wanted to do this properly and having the answer before I ask is not what I would call conventional.”

“Since when does Magnus Bane bother about conventions?” Alec rolled his eyes at him though his grinning kind of ruined the signature move.

“I don’t, but my boyfriend is a traditional kind of guy and, you know, the key of every relationship is compromise.” Magnus was fidgeting with the ring box and Alec, while enjoying the teasing, couldn’t take the wait any more.

“Just ask me already,” he buffed.

And Magnus smiled.

He smiled like Alec was the most precious thing in the world, like he couldn’t believe how lucky he was, like he thought that Alec had put every single star in the night just for him, and all Alec could do was return that smile in kind and hope his eyes weren’t as wet as they felt. Any hope he had was destroyed when Magnus started speaking. “When I met you,” Magnus’ voice was soft and quiet, just for them. “When I met you my life was fine.” Alec chuckled at that. “It was, I had a good job and loving friends. But then a little, brilliant kid got separated from her class and allowed me to help her,” his smile turned even more fond. “And with her, you came too. And you, you and Madzie, have shown me that I don’t want my life to be just fine. I want my life to be exciting, comfortable, maddening, domestic, thrilling, shared…” He took a deep breath. “Extraordinary.” His eyes were shining with unshed tears and Alec had never seen anything as beautiful in his whole life. “I want my life to feel like home. This apartment,” he gestured around, “I’ve always felt safe here and I’ve always loved it but it wasn’t until you moved in that it felt warm no matter what season we were in, that you could hear laughter in it even when you were alone in the silence, that it transpired happiness all on its own. You did this Alexander.” 

Magnus sucked in another breath of air. “And not only to this place. You did it to me. And I want you to keep doing it for the rest of my life. I want to keep rambling to you about my day and hear all about yours. I want to keep trying your new attempts at cooking even if we both know it’s going to end in disaster. I want to keep reading with you, doing silly voices that make you laugh. I want to keep falling asleep next to you. I want to keep making you blanked forts because you had a bad day or because I couldn’t think of anything cheesier than recreating the night I realized I wanted to keep you for as long as you’d have me.” He chuckled self-consciously. “I want to keep coming home to you, I want you to keep being my home. But, most of all, I want to be invited to the Lightwood’s movie nights, Madzie says they are amazing.” He winked at Alec, opening the ring box. “So, Alec Lightwood, would you marry me?”

Alec opened his mouth to answer but realized that he wouldn’t be able to speak without his voice breaking up so he just dropped to his knees and kissed Magnus with everything he had. It wasn’t a particularly heated kiss but it was frantic. Alec pulling Magnus as close as he could with the intent of keeping him there. To keep him there forever. Because that was a thing they had promised each other now. That no matter what, no matter where or when, they would be together, and because of that, they would be happy.

Magnus was the first to break the kiss, putting just enough distance between them to chuckle when Alec whined and started kissing his cheeks instead. “I’m taking that as a yes.”

Alec nodded. “We could use a competent cook at movie nights," he joked. Then he sobered up, "You're my home too, I hope you know that. I love you."

"And I love you." Magnus’ smile was blinding. “Enough to marry you, apparently.”

“Oh,” Alec suddenly remembered something. “Here,” he took the box with his family ring, presenting it to Magnus. “I wasn’t joking when I said I had gotten you the ring.” He smiled. “I don’t know if it’s your style but…”

“It is,” Magnus interrupted, holding his hand out so Alec could slide it on his finger. Or try to. “So it’s a bit tight.”

“Yeah,” Alec laughed. “I was planning on getting it adjusted before giving it to you. We can go tomorrow?” Magnus nodded easily. “What about mine?”

“Oh, here!” Magnus’ ring did fit his finger on the first try. “Now you’re a taken man, Alexander.”

“I’ve been a taken man since the day I met you.” His voice came out far more sincere than joking. “Though I do enjoy wearing your ring.” He closed his fist, relishing the cold metal against his skin. “I’ll admit I was a little jealous my daughter got gifted one before I did.” Magnus chuckled at that, kissing him lightly. “Where is she, by the way?”

“Jace agreed to take her to the movies, she should be back in a couple of hours,” Magnus explained.

“What shall we do with all the alone time?” Alec joked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Magnus gracefully stood up. “I’m sure we’ll find something to entertain ourselves with.” He offered a hand to Alec and neither let go once he was upright. They stood there, impossibly close, before Magnus expression turned even softer. “You really said yes, didn’t you?”

“Of course, were you actually afraid I was going to say no?” Alec asked using his free hand to hold his waist.

“No,” Magnus played idly with his earcuff. “But I’m really happy you didn’t.”

“I’ll never say no, to you,” Alec confessed. “Unless you are trying to convince me to get Madzie a pony or something like that.”

Magnus giggled, happily. “Will you say no to going to our room with me to have some just got engaged sex?”

“Never.”

 

When Madzie arrived home with Jace, Magnus and Alec had already (and reluctantly) left the bedroom. They were on the couch, pretending to be reading and finding excuses to exchange lazy kisses every five minutes.

“So…” While the girl was looking at them curiously it was Jace who was shifting his weight from one foot to another, waiting for any of them to say something.

Alec raised a hand, stopping any of the others from speaking and fished out his phone, quickly writing a text. “Izzy would kill me if she wasn’t the first person I told that I’m engaged,” he explained as apologetically as he could with a dopey, bright smile on his lips.

Jace actually whooped making the others laugh. “Does that means I get to be your best man?”

“Who else?” Alec answered, rolling his eyes.

Madzie tugged at his sleeves. “What about me? What can I be?”

“What about a flower girl? Or the ring bearer?” proposed Magnus with a glint in his eyes that meant that he was already in planning mode.

“Both?”

“Both it is,” Alec promised.

Jace smiled. “I should get going,” he said lightly. “Though I will be invading your apartment tomorrow, Izzy in tow, to help you celebrate.” He walked towards Alec hugging him close. “I’m really happy for you, bro.”

“I’m really happy too,” Alec let his gaze fall into his daughter and fiancée (fiancée!) sitting by his side while already brainstorming the most extravagant, yet tasteful, ideas for the ceremony and smiled softly. Yeah, he was really very happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is it then. I've been writing this fic for almost six months now, I think, and I'll probably fall into the temptation to write some oneshots in the same universe because it's been for so long in my head! Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. To everyone who's read it, commented or left kudos. This is the biggest fanfict project I've ever done (let's not count the 'reading Harry Potter in Hogwarts' fic of my youth) and I'm beyong happy I have been able to share it with all of you and that you've enjoyed it. I'm kind of really proud of it. And also, thanks again to my beta alecisgay who has improved the quality of this fic exponentially. So rant over, excuse my over emotional note but my baby is all grown up and complete and I am thrilled and sad and all that. Thank you all for reading it, really!

**Author's Note:**

> So chapter one, what did you think? All the chapters resolve around a context, the one for this chapter is 'ward'. The next chapter should be up next friday and if you want to talk about this fic or malec in general please come talk to me in my tumblr: Airuna. Feedback is always appreciatted!


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